
PROCEEDINGS 



OIF" THE 




OF THE 



Pne J^ 



UNDREDTH rLNNIYERSARY 
OF THE INCORPOEATION OF THE 






AUGUST 20, 1873. 




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PKKPAHKI) FOR PUBLICATION BY THE COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. 



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W I X C H E N D O N : 

PRINTED BY F. W. WARD & CO 
18 78. 



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One Hundredth Annivei\sap>^ 



OF THE INCORPORATION OF THE 



Wmn if Jafi i j^ JH, 



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AUGUST -20, 1873 



PTIEPAUKTi FOi; I'UIiLKJATION T.V 'J'lTK ToMMITTHK dT AlIUA. 



W I N C H E N D O N 

I! r N T K Ii I ^ 

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PJIELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 



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qB/V ^ '^^^'' -'^^^"^^'^1 Town Meeting, March 8tb, 1870, pursnaiit 
^ITTi to an article in the warrant, voted that John Fox, Josejih 
ff |if'' P. Frost, Addison Prescott, David C. Chamberlain and 
Rufus Case, be a committee to collect facts in reference to mak- 
ing preparations for a Centennial celebration August 17th, lS7o, 
and said committee appointed, as assistants, one person in each 
School District, viz : — Benjamin Cutter, Geo. A. Underwood, 
Addison J. Adams, Ambrus W. Spaulding, Lewis L. Pierce, 
Franklin 11. CHitter, Clarence S. Bailey, Joseph W. Fassett, 
John S. Lawrence, John Frost, Benj. Pierce, Benjamin Prescott 
and Lewis S. Jacpiith. 

At the annual Tom'u Meeting, March 12th, 1872, consecpient 
to an article in the warrant, a vote "svas passed to celebrate the 
one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the Town, 
and chose John Fox, Addison Prescott, Benjamin Pierce, Lewis 
S. Jacpdth, Julius Cutter and Franklin IL Cutter a committee 
to carry the same into effect. 

ISovember 5th, 1872, the town voted that the committee chos- 
en to mak(> the necessary preparation for the approaching ( 'en- 
tennial anniversary of the town, be authorized to fill all vacan- 
cies which may occur in said committee. 

Subsequently John Fox and Lewis S. Jaquith withdrew, and 
the vacancies were filled by George A. Underwood and Lewis L. 
Pierce. 

The committee organized by choosing LeAvis L. Pierce, corres- 
ponding Secretary and ('lerk; Franklin H. Cutter, C'hairman, 
and Jidius (hitter, TreasuitT; commencing their duties by en- 
gaging an orator and poet. 



4 JAI'l'KKY (KNTENNIAL. 

At the Annual Electing, March 11th, LSTo, the town voted 
to celebrate its centennial anniversary at the centre of the town ; 
also, that the Committee of Arrangements and Selectmen be a 
committee to determine in what way the collation should be pft'o- 
vided, — said connnittce deciding it should be furnished gratuit- 
ously, and to carry the same into efi'ect, the committee of ar- 
rangements appointed Mr. & Mrs. Joseph W. Fassett, ]Mr. & 
Mrs. Alfred Sawyer, Mr. & Mrs. .lohn A. Cutter, Mr. & Mrs. 
John S. Dutton, Mr. Henry Chamberlain, Mr. & ^Irs. Frederic 
Spaulding, Mr. & Mrs. Addison J. Adams, Mr. & Mrs. Ambrus 
W. Spaulding, Mr. & Mrs. Daniel V. Adams, :Mr. & Mrs. Mar- 
shall C. Adams, Mr. & Mrs. T.evi E. Brigham, Mr. & Mrs. 
Abram B. Davis, Mr. & Mrs. Bejamin F. Dawrence, ^Ir. & Mrs. 
John E. Baldwin, Mr. &. Mrs. Lucius A. Cutter, Mr. & Mrs. 
Joel H. Poole, Mr. & .Mrs. Joseph Davis, .Mr. & .Mrs. Henry .M. 
Stearns, Mr. Sanniel Jewell, Mr. Fred J. Ijawrence, .Mr. *^ .Mrs. 
Michael D. Fitzgerald, Mr. & Mrs. Edward H. Cro\\-e, .Mr. & 
Mrs. Selah Lovejoy, Mr. &. .Mrs. Rosea B. Aldrich, Mr. & .Mrs. 
David A. Cutler, .Mr. & Mrs. Sylvester V. 'L'owne, .Mr. *& Mrs. 
Oliver H. Brown, Mr. & Mrs. Liberty .Mower, and .Mr. & 
Mrs.Thos. Upton as a soliciting" and table committee, who perform- 
ed their duties in a highly commendable manner, and the result 
was, the nudtitiide that came, were bountifully supplied with 
substantial and delicate food,, with an abundance of ice-water. 
Tea, coffee, lemonadi', foaming soda &:c., were obtaini'd l)y pass- 
ing into side tents. 

The committee of arrangements ap])ointed .lames S. Lacy, 
Austin E. Spaulding and Benjamin Pierce to arrange a choir o/ 
singers for the centennial day ; also made choice of Franklin H. 
C/Utter, Esq., President ; Dr. John Fox, Peter Upton, Esq., Col. 
Sanuiel Kyan, Ex-Consul C'has. H. Powers, Capt. John A. Cut- 
ter, Henry C. French, Alfrinl Sawyer, Ambrus W . Spaulding, 
Col. James L. Bolster, A ice-Presidents ; Capt. George A. I^n- 
derwood, Marshal; he appointing Joseph W. Fassett, Jonas C. 
Rice, Henry B. Wheeler, Esq., Aids, for the day. 

The expenses of the celebration wt^n^ paid by subscription, as 
will herein ])e shown. 



JAFFKFA' CE>'TEXNIAL. O 

A letter of invitation was issued by the eommittce, printed on 
eight hundred Postal Cards, copied as follows : 

" J A F F K E Y C E N T E N N I A L." 

" The One Hundredth Anniversary of the Incorporation of 
the Town of JaU'rey, N. H., occiu's this year. It is proposed to 
celebrate the event on the twentieth day of August, with appro- 
priate ceremonies. The Sons and Daughters of Jaffrey, and all 
former residents are cordially invited to be present and take part 
in commemorating the day." 

FRAMvLIN H. CUTTER,^ 
ADDISON PRESCOTT, | .. 
BENJAMIN PIERCE, i '-"^^^^^ttle 

JULIUS CUTTER, i a "' 

GEO. A. UNDERWOOD, | ^i'i^^^^^^i^^ient^. 

LEWIS L. PIERCE, j 

Jai-fkev, Jri.v 2(jth, 1873. 

This letter was, by the committee, sent to all parts of the 
countrv, to former residents of the town. 

As the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the 
town occxuTcd on Sunday, August 17th, it Avas decided to cele- 
brate on the Wednesday following. 

The day proved favorable. At an early hour, from all quar- 
ters, crowds assembled at the place of meeting to the number of 
five thousand or more. Many friendly and hearty greetings 
were passed between those who had long been separated, and 
were now permitted to take each other by the hand. 

A mammoth tent covering 150 by 60 feet of ground, was 
erected in close connection to the " old town house." An am- 
ple platform, measiu-ing forty by fifteen feet, was covered by a 
nice piano, large reporters' table, and settees for one huntb'ed 
and fifty persons ; the " auditorium " proper having seats for 
more than three thousand people. 



b JAl-FREY CEXTENMAL. 

"THE DAY'S DOIXGS." 

The component parts of a long and eye-pleasing procession — 
Captain George A. Underwood, Chief Marshal ; J. W. Fassett, 
J. C. Rice, H. B. Wheeler, Assistants — formed at three different 
points. Having been brought together on time, it moved from 
the vicinity of J. T. Bigelow's store at 9 a. m., in the following 
order: 1 — Peterboro' Cavaby Company, Capt. D. M. White, 
55 men; 2 — East Jaffrey Cornet Band, G. W. Capen, Leader, 
20 pieces; 3 — Contoocook Fire Engine Company, Liberty 
Town, Foreman, 40 uniforms; 4 — President of the day. Orator, 
Toastmaster, and Chaplain ; 5 — The Vice-Presidents ; 6 — Com- 
mittee of Arrangements ; 7 — Livited guests expected to respond 
to sentiments; 8 — C'hoir, marshaled by J. S. Lacy, 30 strong; 
9 — Loyal Veterans, Lieut. Wm. Robbins, Commander; 10 — 
Four horse wagon with four generations of the Rice lamilv, and 
a banner lettered '' Mrs. Dorcas Rice — 104 yrs. — the oldest la- 
dy in New Hampshire;" 11 — 23 young ladies (conducted by 
John E. Baldwin) representing Cheshire County by carrying 
elegant banners, each respectively inscribed with the name of a 
single town; 12 — Teachers and scholars of thirteen district 
schools with handsomely mottoed and numbered standards; 13 
— Citizens generally. Having marched and counter-marched 
perhaps a half mile, the procession (except the Cavalry which left 
for East Jaffrey depot to escort soon-to-arrive members of the 
Boston city government) entered the tent which proved of insuf- 
ficient capacity for the occasion, many hundreds being obliged, 
nolens vo/ais, to renuiin outside. Precisely at ten o'clock. Chief 
Marshal Underwood felicitously introduced Franklin H. Cutter, 
Esq., President of the day, who forcibly eniinciatc>d the subjoined 

ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : — I congratulate you upon this event- 
ful occasion — this celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversa- 
ry of the Incorporation of the Town of Jaffrey. I congratulate 
you at oiu" re-union under so favorable circumstances here at the 
foot of old time-worn Monadnock. Since that incorporation day, 



JAI-FREY CENTENNIAL. i 

one hiincli-ed years ago, Avhich bears the prominent place on the pag- 
es of our town's history, this earth has made thirty-six thousand, 
five hundred and twenty-four daily revolutions, and oftimes has 
the morning sun kissed the brow of Grand Old Monadnock, 
nature's pride, lighting up the hills with rosy glow, then beaming 
down into the valleys draped with shadows till nature has chang- 
ed her sable robe of night for that of the sini's molten golden light. 
Then came the mid-day with all its meridian glory, and as 
many times that sun has cast its evening shades on the hill-sides 
and left its last ray on that same mountain's brow, reflecting up- 
on the sky most gorgeous hues of flame-color and crimson, im- 
perceptibly deepening into the purple tinge of evening. 

To the Sons and Daughters of those who have occupied these 
granite hills in days gone by — the statesman, the lawyer, the 
preacher, the doctor — and to all, those in every station of life, 
coming from the colder climes of the North, from the South 
where the orange trees in fragrance bloom, from the East where 
the angry Atlantic lashes the rock-bound shore with its turbu- 
lent waters, from the broad prairies of the West, dotted here and 
there with mammoth fields of wheat, corn and other grain, on 
to the shores of the mighty Pacific, — we give you all a most 
cordial welcome upon this festival day to our hearths where the 
fire goeth not out and hospitality ever reigneth ; to the homes 
of your ancestors, the places of your childhood about which so 
many tender recollections cluster, as we sing 

" How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood, 

When fond recollection presents them to view; 
The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wild-wood. 

And every loved spot which my infancy knew ; 
The wide spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it, 

The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell; 
The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it. 

And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well." 

We welcome you back to witness the beautiful scenery of Jaf- 
frey ; to look upon our mountain in all its magnificence and 
grandem- ; to follow its Avindiug streams and from their pure 
waters catch the spotted trout suited to the most fastidious taste ; 
to walk ill the old grave-yard and gaze upon those tomb-stones 
which denote the spot where oiu" fathers rest. Our neighbors 



8 



JAFFKEY CENTENMAT,. 



and friends we welcome you to participate in the festivities of 
this occasion. We give yon all a friendly grip of the hand, in- 
vite you to take part in this Centennial Celebration and thank 
God that we are here to speak one to another of days gone by 
and spend a short time together with the memories of Auld 
Lang Syne. May blessings rest npon this day and the town of 
Jaffrey, her sons and daughters, through all coming centuries. 

Applause having subsided, the band played " Keller's Amer- 
ican Hymn " in good style, when Rev. Rufus Case, pastor of the 
First Congregational Church at Jaffrey Centre, offered an excel- 
lent prayer, after which the choir, led by Prof. Geo. Foster, of 
Keene, harmoniously vocalized an original 

" S O N G () F W E L C O M E ." 

HY >[ISS AI,:\IKI)A M. SMITH. 



Back froin the prairied West, 
Dear kliidrecl, welcome home; 

Tliis native soil you blest. 
Ere tempted far to roam. 

Welcome to .lattVey's granite hills. 

Her rocky vales and sparkling rills. 

Back from the South's fair land, 
Back from the holly's shade. 

Welcome to join our hand. 
From every hill and glade. 

Welcome to JatFrey's granite hills, 

Her rocky vales and sparkling rills. 

O'er ocean's waters blue 

We hid you come once more; 

Our hearts are faithful, true, 
As in the days of yore. 

Welcome to JaflVey's granite hills. 

Her rocky vales and sparkling rills. 

Come, join our festal throng, 

'Neath stern Monadnock's hrow ; 
Our hearts to day are strong 



In friendship pure, I trow. 
Welcome to JafiVey's grfinite hills, 
Her rocky vales and sparkling rills. 

A century ago 

Your fathers trod this soil; 
The gray old rocks we know 

Bear witness of their toil. 
Welcome to Jatt'rey's granite hills, 
Her rocky vales and sparkling rills. 

With thankful hearts we bow 
To God, our Father, Friend, 

That here we meet e'en now. 
And our glad greetings blend. 

Welcome to Jaffrey's granite hills. 

Her rocky vale and sparkling rills. 

We welcome you again 
To your dear native land ; 

Join in our sweet refrain 

With voice and heart and hand. 

Welcome to JafiVey's granite hills. 

Her rocky vales and sparkling rills . 



President Cutter then came forward and said. Ladies axd 
Gen'ilemex : — It is with great satisfaction that I have the pleas- 
ure of introducing to you as Orator of the Day, a native of Jaf- 
frey. The venerable gentleman has lived nearly half a score of 
years more than the mimb(>r allotted to man, and is thoroughly 



JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 9 

acquainted with the early history of this toAvn. He has served 
his native State, jN^ew Hampshire, as Chief Justice for a series of 
years, and to him the jurists of our State have looked for counsel. 
He has also been a guiding star in the legal profession of oiu- sis- 
ter State where he now resides. Well can we afford to listen at 
this time to the Hon. Joel Pakker, of Cambridge, Massachu- 
setts, whom I now introduce to you. 



Centennial Admess. 



by hon. joel parker, of cambridge, mass. 

Fellow Citizens, Friends; Ladies and Cjentlemen : — 
Some threescore years since, a favorite piece for declamation by 
the junior school-boys commenced with this couplet : 

"You'd scarce expect one of my age. 
To speak in public on the stage." 

When I received the invitation of the Committee of Arrange- 
ments, to deliver an Addi'ess, at the close of a century, more than 
three-quarters of which I represent, so f^ir as years are concern- 
ed, in my own person, I Avas forcibly reminded of this school-boy 
exercise, and strongly tempted, reversing its significance, to make 
it the basis of my reply. 

But the after-thought was, that upon such occasions, reminis- 
cences are generally acceptable, even if they are tj-ivial, and that, 
perhaps, urged by such a complimentary requisition, I owed it to 
the Town of my birth, to waive my claim to exemption, make my 
"last appeai'ance" on this occasion, and tell what I kno\\-, little 
though it may be, of its early history. 

Little enough it is, in fact, for the years of my early youth 
were passed in the remote seclusion of the ISortheastern cor- 
ner of the township, — and with only a few intervening years 
in the centre, my personal knowledge respecting its peo])le. and 
its affairs, has been only tln-ough occasional visits. 

If, " sixty years since " I had had even a remot(> susjucion, 
that I might stand here- today, to discourse^ res])c(ting tlie first 



10 JAFFKEY ('ENTEXNIAL. 

inhabitancy of this town, and its incorporation, I wonld have 
come to you this morning with a portfolio fidl of notations re- 
specting its ancient history. Having no such premonition, 
many of the incidents of its early days have escaped from my 
grasp, — and the sources from which alone information respect- 
ins them could have been derived are gone forever. The Cen- 
tury which is commemorated has, in the course of natui-e, car- 
ried away the Fathers who saw the inception of the settlement 
here, with those who immediately followed and were conversant 
Avith things done and transacted within its borders. 

Even in regard to a much later date ; a few only of that peri- 
od seem to stand, somewhat like the servants of Job, who came 
from different quarters and said, one after another, — "I alone 
am escaped to tell thee;" — and doubtful upon Avhoni I should 
charge the dufij of having greater knowledge than I ought to 
have respecting the first half of the century, and thereby release 
myself from the conscription, by presenting a substitute, my con- 
clusion, at last, led me, in obedience to the recjuisition, to come 
before you at the present time, and ask your indulgence for the 
deficiencies which you will perceiAC in what I have to offer for 
your acceptau'c. 

The great antiquitv of the Township where Ave arc assembled 
does not admit of a doubt. 

It seems to be the better opinion, that in the creation of the 
Avorld, granite was first formed. We are assured that granite 
appears to be the fiuidamental rock of the earth's criist. and 
that " Avherever we reach the base of the stratified rocks, avc find 
thein resting i;pon granite." 

This being so, it follows that New Hampshire is entitled to 
the credit of being part of the earliest creation. And that Jaf- 
frev had a larger interest in that creation than any of her neigh- 
bors, is shown bv the fact, that on the subsequent partition, the 
larger portion of the Monadnock was assigned to her. 

It is one of the jests about Father Sj)rague, as he was called, 
long the minister of Dublin, that discovu'sing one day upon 
faith, and cjuoting the passage of Scripture respecting its power 



JAFF15EY fENTENMAT,. 11 

to reniovo mountains, he turned his eye, thiongh th(> windoM", 
to the mass of granite in full view, and expressed a doul)t Mheth- 
er that applied to the Monadnock. 

If there have been any very great changes in the structure of 
the earth here, since the period of creation, they are not clironi- 
cled. The Monadnock exhibits no evidence of disturbance, bv 
faith, or by volcanic influences. The only fires have been upon 
its exterior surface. At the settlement of the Townshij) it nnist 
have been covered, nearly to its summit, with a dense forest. 
Some of my earliest recollections are of fires on its sidc>s, which 
furnished pillars of smoke by day, and of fire by night, suflicient 
to have guided the children of Israel, if their path to the prom- 
ised land had lain in this vicinity. These fires left a tangled 
windfall, and a "bald rock," as it was called, at the top. — ^^•hicll 
was perhaps bare before that time. Possiblv thcv arc responsi- 
ble, in some measure, for mv inability to hunt up a r^'spectable 
bear story, as a part of the minor history of the town. 

But if the mountain has not changed its local habitation, the 
town has its geologic and historic problem, of a different charac- 
ter, in the meadow lying just east of this tillage. Some twenty 
years since, in one of my occasional visits to Jafi"rey, I found 
Dr. Fox engaged in removing large pine stumps, witli roots of 
great size and length, from his portion of the meadow, on th(^ 
westerly side, and he showed me, at the distance of a rod or tMo 
from the upland, small pieces of wood bearing evidence of hav- 
ing been cut bv the beavers, and supposed to be parts of a l^eav- 
er dam, taken from a depth of some five feet below the surface. 
There were sticks of yelloAv birch and of alder about three or 
four inches in diameter, cut at the ends by a grooved instrument. 

It was not siu'prising that the beavers should ha^e had a hab- 
itation in that vicinity. In fact, recent inquiries show that 
this town must have been a favorite locality with them. But 
it was a mystery how, in the present conformation of the land, 
there could have been a beaver dam in that spot. 

Recently it was determined to have a further examination, 
and it was soon ascertained that there had hvcn a beaver dam at 
the outlet of the meadow, on the Southeast, near Mr. Cutter's 



12 JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

tannery, — in the place which any sagacious beaver might have 
designated for a dam, — and the conclusion was readily reached, 
that what had been discovered by Dr. Fox was the remains of a 
beaver's cabin, on the Westerly shore of the pond which must 
have been formed by this dam. And so it proved. Selecting 
a spot a short distance from that opened by Dr. Fox, we struck 
another cabin, shown clearly to be such, by finding the beaver's 
bed, composed of small twigs, leaves and grass, well constructed 
in layers, — the general color being of a light orange when taken 
out, but becoming dark very soon, on exposure to the air. Many 
of the leaves were of perfect form, so that the kinds could be 
distinguished; and a small beech-nut Avas foxnid betAveen the 
sheets, probably not stowed away for use but taken up with the 
leaves in forming the bed. 

All mystery about the formation of a beaver dam Avas solved, 
but there was a marvel remaining. The beaver's bed Avas about 
seven feet beloAv the surface, and when made must have been in 
a dry position, and above the surface of a pond. By Avhat pro- 
cess of accretion had this pond been filled, and some seven feet 
of mud deposited above the bed ? On testing the depth of the 
mud Avith a pole, it Avas found to be about thirteen feet. In the 
centre of the meadoAv it must be much more. 

The surrounding hills, at the present time, do not giA'e evi- 
dence that great aid in filling could have been derived from them, 
— indicating that the basin must ha\'e filled itself, to a great ex- 
tent, from its own resoiu'ces. Sufficient material must perhaps 
have been Avashed in for the commencement of the process. 

Dr. Fox states, that in clearing his meadoAV of these stumps 
and roots, he dug doAvn into the mud in some places to the 
depth of ten feet ; and that he found tlii'ee tiers of large pine 
stumps, perhaps none directly OA'er the others, but on three dif- 
ferent levels, — one at the sui-face, the second about a foot below 
the bottom roots of the first, and the third about the same dis- 
tance beloAv the second, bringing the third about on the level 
with the beaA^er's cabin. — The trees A\'ere very large pines, gen- 
erally three or foiu- feet in diameter, and similar in the scA^eral 
tiers. 



JAFFREY f'ENTENXTAI,. 13 

This statement is supplemented by Benjamin Cutter, Esq., 
wlio says, that in clearing liis part of the meadow, he dug cross 
ditches, — and that at the intersection he found three large 
stumps in a perpendicular line, — the upper one directly above 
the other two, — the two upper of pines, one to two feet in diam- 
eter, — the lower apparently of birch and about one foot, — and 
that th'ere were pine stumps at the surface, near, or quite, foiu- 
feet in diameter, within, probably, ten rods. 

That trees grow and decay is no marvel. But three succes- 
sive generations of them, so to speak, situated on the same spot, 
and attaining th's gigantic size, and on such a wet soil, formed 
to a great extent by their own decay, are not often seen or heard 
of, — never before to my knowledge. 

Centuries seem to be comprised in this problem. Pine trees 
four feet in diameter do not grow in a short period, and when 
groAvn it requires some time to resolve them by a natural process 
of decay, into good meadoAv mud, capable of sustaining another 
like growth. 

I can hardly assign less than five htindred years, perhaps it 
may be a thousand, — as a time when this beaver's cabin was 
erected and his bed made. How much longer, and how many 
tiers of pine trees there may have been below those discovered 
is not very material. 

If any one is disposed to cavil about the exact period, T have 
no objection to discount a century or so ; but I cannot consent 
to give up any of the stumps, because as they stand, or rather 
stopd, — the town may stump all the towns in the i-egion round 
about, to show anything bigger, of that description. 

It needs not that I should say to you, that it Avas persevering 
industry and diligent hard labor which subdued the forest here, 
and converted so large a portion of the township into reasonably 
fertile fields. 

It must be admitted that the surface is some-\\hat uneven. — 
I should be unwilling to ap])lv the term /-o/zo-A to the township, 
or to any body or thing connected with it. — And there are some 
stones scattered here and there, notwithstanding the " heaps of 



14 JAFFREY CEMEXNIAL. 

'em " piled up in the fields, in times past, by the boys, somewhat 
to their disgust when they wanted to "go a fishing." 

But this is a world of compensations. Pure air, pure water, 
and good drainage, are conducive to good health, and good mor- 
als ; and it is but just to say, that this is a place Avhere a man, 
under ordinary circumstances, may expect to " live out half his 
days," and even something more, if careful about his habits. 

A party to ascend the Monadnock, after " haying time," was 
one of the recreations many years since ; — but who could then 
imagine, that our beloved Town, with its uneven surface, would 
become a celebrated resort for the seekers after health, and for 
the lovers of quiet and of the picturesque, and that the writers of 
prose, and eke of poetry, would come hither, not merely to get 
a larger view ef the world than they ever had before, but to 
make it a dwelling, and a habitation, and a shelter against the 
heats of summer, and perhaps the storms. of adverse fortune.* 

Respecting the minor incidents of the early history of the town , 
little can now be known, for the reasons suggested. 

It is said that there were settlers here prior to seventeen hun- 
dred and forty-nine. If so, they were occupants without even 
color of title, and doubtless did not remain. 

If we desire to derive a title otherwise than from the orio'inal 
granite, we may trace it through the Right in the Crown of 
Great Britian by Discovery. — The grant of King James I, to 
the Council of Plymouth, in the County of Devon, in England. 
— The grant of that corporation to Capt. John Mason. — A 
devise by him to his grandson Robert Tufton, who took the name 
of M ason. — Thence as an entailed estate, through several de- 
scents to his great-grandson John Tufton Mason, — and after a re- 
covery his conveyaiice iii. 174(5, to Theodore AtkiiTSon and 



*I note, however, that the iuducements to the traveller to -'stop over," 
may not, within the law, be in all respects quite as nnnieruus as those 
held out by a poetical landlord, who kept a tavern north ofKeene village, 
some three-quarters of a century since. They ran in this wise : 

"Why will j'e pass by, both hungry and dry, 

Good brandy, good gin, please to Wiilk in, 

Good baiting, good bedding, 

Your humble servant, Thomas Redding." 



JAFFREY rEXTEXXIAT.. 15 

eleven other persons, who afti^-rwards became known as "the Ma- 
sonian Proprietors." 

Acting under a vote of thesj Masonian Proprietors, passed 
June 16, 17-19, Joseph Blanchard, of Dunstable, as their agent, 
on the thirtieth of November of that year, conveyed to Jonathan 
Hubbard and thirty-nine others, all the liight. Possession and 
Property of the Proprietors, to this township, then called the 
Middle Monadnock, or Number Two, — several of the grantees 
taking more than one share, the nund^er of shares being in fact 
fifty.* The deed contained a provision by which the land 
should be divided into seventy-one shares, three shares being 
" granted and appropriated, free of all charge, one for the first 
settled minister," " one for the support of the ministry, and 
one for the school there forever, "f the grantors reserving for 
themselves eighteen shares, acquitted from all duty and charge 
until im])roved. And it Avas pro\ided that each share contain 
three lots, equitably coupled together, and drawn for, at or be- 
fore the first of July next, in some equitable manner. 

One of the provisions of the deed was that each of the grantees 
should, at the executing of the instrument, pay twenty pounds 
old tenor, to defray the necessary charges arisen and aiising in 
said township.^ 



♦See Appendix A. 

fGrants of townships bj' the Governor nnd Coimcil outside of the limits 
of tlie Masonian Proprietors, sometimes contained jirovisions givino' 
(shau'S to tlie Clnireli of England, and to the society for the propa"^a- 
tion of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, wilh a large share for his Excellency 
personally. 

JThe actual amount to be paid was but a small proportion of the nom- 
inal sum thus set down: — the old tenor being a paper currencv issued 
long before by the Province, which, not having been redeemed aceordin"- 
to its tenor, had greatly depreciated. Massachusetts had three emissions 
of paper currency, which became known as old tenor, nuddle tenor, and 
new tenor. The old tenor had depreciated in 1758, so that twenty shil- 
lings of it Avere worth only two shillings eight pence lawful money. It 
may be safely inferred that the currency of New Hampshire was not better. 
Probably it was worse. Belknap, speaking of a controversv between 
Governor Benning Wentworth and the Assemblj, in 1749, respecting the 
representation of the towns, says : — " The effect of this controversy was 
injurious to the governor, as well as to the people. The pui)lic hills of 
credit had depreciated since this administration began, in the ratio of thir- 
ty to tifty-six, and the value of the jjoveruor's salary had declined iu the 
same proportion." 



16 JAFFREY ( ENTEN MM. 

There air ioiuniiou> respeetmg cleariuii,". IniiUlinu,. and set- 
tlement, to bo performed wirliiu eertaiu speeitied times, by the 
several grantees, — a eouditiou that a good couvmiieut meeting- 
house shouki bo built, as ue;u- the eeutre as might bo with oouve- 
nieuee, within six yoai-s liom date, and ten aercs of laud reserved 
for public use: — another, that the grantees, or theii- assignees, 
bv a major vote, in public meeting, should grant and assess such 
further sums as they should think necessaiy for carrying for- 
ward the settlement, — with a provision for the sale of so much 
of any delinquent's right as should be necessary for the paynunit 
ofatax. bya committee appointed for that pmpose; — and a 
fiuther provision that if any of the grantees should neglect or 
refiise to pei"form any of the ai-ticles, he should forfeit his share 
and right to those of tbe grantees who shoidd have complied on 
their part. — with power to enter upon the right of the delin- 
quent owner, and oust him, provided they should perform his 
dutA" as he should have done, within a yeiu-. 

There were provisions by which the grantors undertook to 
defend the title, to a certiun extent. 

We are interested in these conditions and provisions only as 
matters of histoiy, sex-A"ing to show the measiues taken by the 
Masonian Proprietoi's to seciu'o the settlement of the towuships 
which thev granted, this among othei-s. 

It seems probable that none of the conditions were strictly 
complied with. They could not well bo at that time. But so 
long as there wore attempts, in good faith, to make settlements, 
it was not for the interest of the grantors to enforce forfoitmes. 
Their shares became more valuable as the others were improved, 
and the enforcement of forfeitui-es. when there wore att^^'inpts to 
perform, woidd have injiued themselves. 

I have procured from the Clerk of the Masonian Proprietors, 
copies of the documents on file in his office relating to this Town- 
ship. A few items may perhaps bo acceptable. 

The grantees held a meeting at Dunstable, January l(i. 17411- 
50. at which a vote was passed that each right be laid out into 
three lots, and to couple them fit for cfrawiug. to be done bv the 
last day of May ; and that tAventy pounds old tenor be raised to 



JAFFRKY CEXTENXIAL. IT 

he raised to each right, to defray charges incidental thereto. 

A plan of th'j township, seven miles long by five broad, laid 
out into ten ranges, and twenty-two lots one hundred rods wide 
to each range, was finished in May, 1750. 

The meeting in January was adjourned to the first Tuesday 
in June, when it Avas again adjoiu'ned to the second Tuesday, 
at which time the lots were drawn. 

It is probable that some of the grantees abandoned their rights, 
as six shares were sold at this meeting, and the money ordered 
to be deposited with the Treasiu-er, to be paid " to the first five 
men that goes on with their families in one year from this date, 
and continues there for the space of one year." 

There was a vote also for a Committee to lay out a road from 
another Number Two (Wilton) through Peterboro' Slip, to this 
township.* 

The nueting was than adjourned to November 8th, at which 
time a vote was passed prescribing the method of calling futm-e 
meetings, — the provision for notice being the posting of notices 
at Dunstable, Lunenberg and Hollis. A further vote appointed 
Joseph Blanchard, Benjamin Bellows, and Captain Peter Pow- 
ers, " a Committee to manage the Prudentials for this Society." 

These last votes give us a clue to the residences of some of 
the grantees. They of coiu'ss belonged to the toAvns where no- 
tices were to be posted. Captain Peter PoAvers, who was the 
grantee of four shares, and the purchaser of four of the six sold 
at auction at the first meeting, — and who was one of the Com- 
mittee to manage the Prudentials, — must have been the first set- 
tler of Hollis, in 1731; — one of the soldiers under the cele- 
brated Capt. John Lovewell, who fell in the Indian fight at Pig- 
wackett, in 1725. 

At a meeting of the grantees August 4, 1752, a formal vote 
was passed to accept the title with an acknowledgement that they 

*NoTr.. — Lviidpboro*. includino: the Northerly part of Wilton, was laid 
out by Massachusetts under the claim of that Colony, and jrranted to certain 
persons, mostly beloiitring to Salem, in consideration of their suflerings in 
the expedition to Canada. The residue of what is Wilton was granted 
by the Masoniaii Proprietors, in 1749. and was called No. 2. Mason was 
called No. 1. Peteriioro' Slip comprised the towns of Temple and Sharon. 
This gives us the general course of the road. 



18 JAFFREY CEXTEXNIAL. 

held it under the conditions, and limitations, and reservations ; 
— by some of which there should have been clearings before 
that time. 

Copies of the deed executed by Blanchard, and of the plan ; 
and a list of the Proprietors, were filed in the office of the grant- 
ors September 4th, 1753. 

It is stated that a settlement was attempted in 1753 by Rich- 
ard Peabody, Moses Stickney and a few others, who remained 
but two or tlu'ee years. The first native was a son of Moses 
Stickney, born in 1753. 

The fii'st permanent settlement was made in 1758, by John 
Grout and John Davidson. 

There is in the files a paper containing, First, a list of settlers 
on the free lots to the number of nine families. Second, a list 
of settlers that abide constantly on settling rights, — total 22. 
Third, " some beginnings on settling rights," number 10. Also 
a memorandum, " no meeting-house built." This is certified as 
a true account of the settling rights " carefully examined and 
humbly submitted " by Jolin Grout and Poger Gilmore. There 
is no date to it, nor any memorandum when it was received, but 
pinned to it is a paper signed John Gilmore and Roger Gilmore, 
dated March 10, 1769, addi-essed to " Gentlemen Grantors," set- 
ting forth, that they bought the right that was Paul ^larch's, 
January, sixty-eight, and the improvements which they have 
made and intend, and concluding ; " Gentlemen, we beg the fa- 
vor of you, as you are men of honor, that you will not hurt us in 
our interest, for we have done everything in our power to bring 
forward the settlement of this place." 

Roger Gilmore is the only one of the earlier settlers that I am 
sure of having seen. He lived on the hill east of the tannery of 
John Cutter, — was a man of large frame, and dignified deport- 
ment, — Avas highly esteemed, and was much employed as Jus- 
tice of the Peace, Surveyor and in town offices and affiiirs. 

There is also on file, " an accompt of the settlements in Mo- 
nadnock No. 2," certified by Enoch Hale, stating the names of 
the settlers on the several rights, and the number of the rights, 
(ten in all), appearing to be delincpient. It is without date, but 
was " Received March Sth, 1770," and was probably made up 



JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 19 

-within a short time previously. From this it appears that there 
were settlements on thu-ty-four rights ; and twelve lots (addition- 
al as I understand,) improved ; — and that mills were erected on 
Right 15, and a saw-mill on 41. 

And here, near the close of its unincorporated existence, let 
us pay a deserved tribute to the enterprise and energy of the 
early settlers. 

Struggling against obstacles that were all but insuperable, and 
through hardships which might well have daunted the most de- 
termined courage, they have, in a few years, brought the town- 
ship largely above the average of the settlements in the County, 
and to a position exceeded only by towns of a longer existence, 
all of which had much greater facilities for access. 

The particular obstacles M'hich they encountered, and the de- 
tails of the hardships which they endured, we cannot know. Of 
their personal deprivations and sufferings, we fail to form an ad- 
equate conception. It is difficult to gain even a general appre- 
ciation of them. 

There are, it is tnie, only forty miles intervening between the 
head-quarters, if we may so call them, at Dunstable, but twenty 
or more of them are through a nearly trackless, dense forest, 
over a rough, rocky surface, with occasionally a small natural 
meadow. 

The pioneers make their sIoav, painful way, much of it tlii'ough 
the thick under-brush, — the husband with an axe on his should- 
er, and what he can carry of household appendages in a pack on 
his back, and his wife follows, somewhat similarly loaded, ex- 
cept the axe. Cheap land, within the reach of their scanty 
means, has tempted them to endiu'ance. There may be a young 
man with them. God be thanked we do not see any young- 
children. Weary, worn in spirit, as well as in body, they reach 
the range and lot of their destination, and their first shelter is 
constructed of hemlock boughs, with the same material for a bed- 
stead, and leaves for a mattress. 



20 JAFFREY CENTENMAL. 

A rude log hut follows.* And then comes the hard strugo^lo 
with the forest, and with privation, — with the winti'r, its deep 
snows, and its intense cold. There is no communication with 
the outward world but by " rackets," (snoAv-shoes), and pioneers 
of longer duration are in other towns, miles away. It is not 
necessary to put wild beasts into this pictui-e. 

Is it wonderful that the settlers of '53 found this too great an 
endurance, even for their brave hearts, and strong arms, and 
that they abandoned the settlement, when remaining threatened 
their lives ? Or rather is it not wonderful that they lived to 
abandon it ? Surely it was not light difficulties which would de- 
ter persons who had the courage to begin such a work, from the 
prosecution of their piu'pose. 

But there is another attempt at settlement made under more 
favorable auspices. 

We may suppose that the few poiuids voted to be raised to 
make a road from No. 2 have been expended. 'I'he underbrush 
and some of the stones are cleared away, and trees are bhized 
along the route ; and another small party of settlers start, Avith 
oxen, not in yokes, but single file, with such loads as they can 
carry strapped upon their backs. And there is a cow there. 
The small patches of natural meadow furnish food for the ani- 
mals, and the emigrants arrive with better means of establishing 
themselves. — The trees fall, — the logs are drawn, piled, burnt, 
— a small space is cleared, — a shelter is built, — seed is sown, 
and the vegetation, anxiously watched and tended, gives a scan- 
ty crop. But sickness conies. Exposure has produced its nat- 
ural result ; — fever is in the household. There is no physi- 
cian. The medicines are the few simple remedies brought in the 
luggage. Acts of neighborly kindness would be cheerfully rend- 



*The log hut must have been sin institution of short duration. So far as 
I have heard, there is little tradition of loif houses in the town. A grist 
and saw mill were erected in Peterboro' as early as 1751. Another saw 
mill near the place of the South Factory, in 1758. Rev. .John H. Morison, 
in his very interesting Address at the Centennial Celi-ljration in Peterboro". 
says : " at this period [1770] log huts were little used. Substantial fianie 
houses, many of them two stories higli, had been erected." .And mc have 
seen, from Ihe return of 1770, that there were then two saw mills here. 



JAFFREY CEXTEXXIAL. 21 

cred, if there Avcre near neighbors, hut are of difficult procurement 
in this forest of " magnificent distances," and all the hours of at- 
tendance by the sick bed are so much time withcb-awn from what 
would otherwise have been essentially necessary for labor and for 
rest. — Alas ! the kindest care, the unslnmbering watch, and the 
fervent prayer, are unavailing, and the sufferer, no longer such, 
is laid to final rest in some quiet corner of " the clearing." 

Out of this darkness comes a brighter cla-\vn. Lumber can be 
had. The mills are miles distant, to be siu"e, and the transpor- 
tation difficult, but perseverance overcomes obstacles. " The 
road " has been improved. — There is a horse upon the path. — 
The rider has a young child in her lap, and one somewhat older 
sits behind. — Her husband drives "the stock." The way is not 
so toilsome, — there are more articles of housekeeping in the 
luggage, — more of encouragement, more of hope, more of frui- 
tion, more of happiness. 

We have reached 1770, and there are several families here. 
The settlement is established on a firm basis. 

Let us never fail to do justice to the pioneers, men and women, 
who with such resolute courage, fortitude, patience and perse- 
verance, established a civilized society in the midst of a trackless 
wilderness. 

We should do ourselves a great Avrong, if we did not express 
our deep admiration of them. 

Li 1771, the Province was divided into Counties. Prior to 
this time all the public offices were in Portsmouth or the vicini- 
ty, and the Coi;rts were held there. 

Li an Act for making a new proportion of public taxes, passed 
May '28, 1773, which incliided unincorporated places. Monad- 
nock No. 2 is set down at £3— 5s in the £1 ()()(). The propor- 
tion for Cheshire Covmty, which until 1827, included what is 
now Sullivan County, was £117— 8s. There were twelve towns 
in the County rated higher than Jaffrey, and seventeen towns and 
places at less. This proportion of the taxation serves to show, 
in some measui'e, its relative importance, at that time. 



22 JAFFKEY CFNTENXIAI.. 

The Masonian Proprietors had and cLaimed only a right of 
property. Their title to the land passed by the deed authorized 
by them, as a deed passes the title to land at the present 
day ; but there was no right of town government granted. The 
provision for taxing the shares, and collecting the tax, could on- 
ly be made effectual through the laAvs of the Province. The ju- 
risdiction was in the Governor and Council, and the Assembly. 

The grantees of the lands acted like a corporation for the di- 
vision and disposition of their lands, and the performance of 
their duties as a Proprietary, but for nothing beyond. When 
those things were accomplished, the Proprietary was at an end, 
— dissolved. And this Avas true also of the townships granted 
by the Governor, outside of the limits of the Masonian lines, 
unless incorporated. 

There was no provision in the general laws by which an as- 
sessment could be made upon the inhabitants of unincorporated 
places, for which reason the Act apportioning the pid)lic taxes, 
in 1773, contained a provision appointing persons, who were 
named, to call meetings of the inhabitants of such places, and 
requiring the inhabitants at such meetings to choose the necessa- 
ry officers for assessing and collecting the tax, and giving author- 
ity for that purpose. 

And so the time had come when the interests of the pc>oplo 
required corporate powers, of a general character, and on the 
17th of August, 1773, an Act of Incorporation was granted, 
nominally by His Majesty, George III, but in fact by the Iloyal 
Governor, John Wentworth, with advice of the Council, — the 
corporate name being found in the name of one of the Masonian 
Proprietors, who was then Secretary.; and Joffrcij was installed 
into the great brotherhood of political and nuinicipal incorpora- 
tions, called Towns ; which have been of such incalculable ben- 
efit not only to New England, Avhere they originated, and of 
which they are the glory and the pride, but through it to the 
country at large. 

The centuries of which Ave usually speak, date from the com- 
mencement of the christian era, — occasionally from the period 



JAFFKEY CEXTEXXIAL. 23 

assigned hy Biblical Theology as the time of the creation of the 
worhh 

But a century may have its beginning at any point of time. 
That of which Ave now witness the close had its inception with 
this incorporation. If the event be supposed to be one of com- 
pai-ative insignificance, it was one which has had a greater abso- 
lute force, for the promotion of the happiness of those persons 
inhabiting within the limits of the town, than any of the greater 
ones Avhich have astonished the world. 

If we should suspend, for a moment, the consideration of the 
local interests attached to this incorporation, and which entitle 
it to mark the commencement of a century, and its anniver- 
sary to a grateful recognition and celebration, and shoxild turn 
our attention to the general history of the century which has 
followed, we should find that this century may challenge a com- 
parison with any one which has preceded it, whatever date may 
be assigned for the commencement of the latter. 

But we must not undertake tlie centennial history of the world 
to-day. On our recollection of it, however, we may surely be 
pardoned if we exclaim, — Great has been the century which had 
its commencement in the incorporation of the town of .Taffi-ey ! 

These incorporated towns had their origin in Plymouth, Dux- 
bury, and Scituate, in the Plymouth Colony, — followed by 
Charlestown, Salem and Newton, (since Cambridge,) and Dor- 
chester, in Massachusetts, — and by Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter, 
and Hampton, in this state. 

It has been suggested that the Town Organization had its ori- 
gin in the Congregational Church polity, — and in fiict the or- 
ganization of the church, in the earlier settlements of the Pil- 
grims and the Puritans, accompanied the organization of the 
town. 

But the town grew mainly out of the secular need, — out of 
the democratic principle of self-government, — as is shown from 
the fact that changes in the modes and forms of worship, and in 
the different church organizations, have not affected the Town- 
ships, and the Towns; — Whereas Congregationalism had no ex- 
istence outside of the portions of the country Avhere these Town- 



ii4 JAIFUEY CENTENNIAL. 

ships existed. Instead of creating Townships and Towns, it has 
not itself been created to any extent, Avhere they have not 
existed. It cannot well exist without them. But they now ex- 
ist in the Western country, Avherc Congregationalism has as yet 
little foothold, — and but for them it Avould have been long since 
merged in Presbyteriauism, which has been the i)revailing form 
of orthodoxy in all parts of thi' country where these towns have 
been unknown.* 

Considering the principles and objects of the emigrants, the 
town system may be said to have been a necessity, in tlu^ exist- 
ing state of things, in the early settlement of this part of the 
country. It was the only organization by and through M'hich 
the settlers could best provide for their wants, and haw the fiill 
enjoyment of the liberty which they prized so highly; — and 
they devised it accordingly. 

The early settlers of the Plymouth Colony discovered, that 
the grant of corporate powers to the small separate settlements, 
and the passage of general laws giving them such powers and 
privileges as would enable them to provide for their local needs, 
and subjecting them to the performance of such duties as might 
be required by the government of the whole Colony, was the 
best and fittest way for the transaction of the affairs of the 
different localities, and they so provided. — This conclusion was 
reached, not through any revelation which perfected the system 
at once, but by degrees, thi'ough their daily and yearly experi- 
ence ; and the system, inaugurated at Plymouth, commended it- 
self to the Massachusetts Colony, so that it was adopted there 
at the outset. 

The earliest settlements in this State A\-ere commenced in a 
slightly different manner, Portsmouth, Dover, and Hampton be- 
ing towns, independent of each other, Avith separate powers of 
government, exercised by agreement, without any act of Incorpo- 
ration. But when the government of the Colony of Ncav Hamp- 
shire was organized, grants of townships were made and toAvns 
incorporated. 

In this organization of toAvns, the settlements of New Eng- 
land differed from those of Virginia, and other Southern States, 



*Sef Appendix B. 



JAI FKEY- CEXTENMAL. 25 

and to those towns, providing for local Avants, and performing 
local duties, Now England owes much of the prosperity, of which 
she has had a reasonable share to this day. 

The early settlers in this place, like those of other towns, 
wanted religious teachers and institutions. This is shown, not 
merely by the character of mankind, the natiire of society, and 
the particular character of the parties, but by the provisions in 
the grant of the township giving one share for the first settled Min- 
ister, and one for the support of the Ministry, and by the condi- 
tion requiring that a good convenient meeting-house should be 
built near the centre within six years. 

Whatever Aye may think respecting ourselves, at this later day, 
with our more dense population, and our enlarged means, Ave 
may Avell conclude, that at that period, it Avas for the benefit of 
the civil state, that the institutions of religion should be main- 
tained through some organization having legal poAver to provide 
for the support of religious teachers. In fact the authority of 
the toAvns to provide for the settlement of ministers and their 
support, remained until 1819, although the efficiency of the laAv 
Avas much impaired, by religious divisions, at an earlier day. 
The clergyman had then no need to spend his summer in Eu- 
rope, or the Adirondacks. His parish being the toAA^n, — his 
parochial visits furnished him Avith sufficient " mxiscular Christian- 
ity " for all practical purposes. 

They AA^anted schools, and of course they needed school-houses, 
— and for the erection of these, school districts. The inhabi- 
tants of the toAvn, Avith a full Tinderstanding of the local needs of 
all portions of the toAvn, could arrange these districts, — the 
people of the several districts could then determine the situa- 
tion and the size of the house required, Avith regard to their ac- 
commodation, and pecuniary ability ; — and the tax voted In^ the 
town for the support of schools, being divided in an (X]uitable 
mann(>r, could then bo applied to th(> purposes of education, in 
these districts AA'ith the greatest possible efficiency. — The poor 
little school houses Avould not make a great shoAv by the side of 
some modern structures, — but they did a Avork, perhaps quite as 
useful as if the seats had had cushions, and the desks had been 
of mahoganA\ 



26 JAFFKEY CEXTEXXIAL. 

They wanted highways. This need of faeilities for intercom- 
munication, and for intercourse with other portions of the coun- 
try, must have impressed itself upon them, by the inconvenien- 
ces which they suffered, in a manner to assure an energetic use 
of their powers in this respect, — and the town incorporation, 
with its power to divide into districts for this pui-pose, and by 
the appropi'iation of money or hibor, to be expended under 
surveyors interested to do a good work, soon rendered travel 
safe, and even convenient. The great rocks have disappeared, 
one after another, under the persevering application of the high- 
way tax, until the "cbives" have, as you know, become very at-. 
tractive. 

The then existing modes of travel and transportation did not 
require roads of the most perfect construction. Chaises had not 
been introduced. ITie light Dearborn wagon had not been in- 
vented. The single horse had no difficulty in picking his way, 
and by skilful " hawing and gceing," the oxen and cart were 
enabled to avoid the more formidable obstructions. Personal 
transportation was mostly on horseback ; but the cart was made 
the carryall when several persons were to be conveyed. The 
side-saddle fiu-nished a healthful means of locomotion for the 
women, and when it became necessary to ride double, the pilli- 
on, no longer known alas, formed a very comfortable seat for 
the lady. As it was necessary in order to keep the scat proper- 
ly, that she should pass her arm arovnid the side of the gentle- 
man, this was, in some cases, a very acceptable mode of trans- 
portation to the junior portion of the community. 

No system of general legislation could provide for all these 
local wants and necessities, according to the exigencies of partic- 
ular cases. 

But the general laws enabled these small communities, acting 
as municipal corporations, to provide each for itself, in relation 
to these and other matters, according to its own vicAvs of a\ hat 
it needed, and what it could perform ; it being premised that it 
had needs upon some subjects, to some extent, and must perform 
to that extent, at least, — Avith liberty to do more, which it usually 
did. — Thiis it must raise a certain amount of money for the sup- 



JAFFKEY CEXTEXXTAL. 27 

port of schools, — and might raise more if deemed expedient. 

The powers and jirivilegcs which the towns possessed were 
not talents to be wrapped in a napkin, and buried in the earth, 
nor did the people belong the class of slothful and unfaithful 
servants who seek to escape from their duties. 

There were other duties and rights attached to these incorpo- 
rations. The duty of supplying the needs of the aged, and in- 
firm, and incompetent, who were unable to supply themselyes ; 
so that want and destitution should be alleviated, and starvation 
unknown, was deemed a common duty of each community, — 
and could best be performed by these incorporations. 

Through them, also, the inhabitants were primarily to enjoy 
such political rights as were conceded to the jieople in the days 
of the Pro\ince, and the more extended and exalted powers 
which were conferred by the acquisition of Independence, the 
organization of the State, and the adoption of the Constitution 
of the United States. — All the rights of suffrage were to be ex- 
ercised within the town incorporation, the electors being sum- 
moned thereto by its warrants for such purposes. — Again, — 
the meetings held for these purposes gave opportunity for the 
full consideration and discussion of the measiu'cs recpiired for the 
public good, and for the exjiression of the opinions of the inhab- 
itants respecting them. How many of the specifications of the 
Declaration of Independence originated in the Resolutions of the 
towns we cannot now know. — Although no trace may be left, 
we knoAA- that there must have been arguments for and against 
the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, when the 
Delegates Avere chosen to attend the Convention which ratified 
it by a small majority, proposing divers amendments, — most of 
Avhich were adopted immediately afterwards. Some voted against 
the ratification, fearing that such amendments would not be 
made, — perhaps so instructed by their constituents. 

Nothing could have been better adapted to the execution of 
all these purposes than these "little Democracies," as DeToc- 
queville has called them. 

The social privileges connected with the organization must not 
be overlooked. It made the inhal)itants of the small tract of terri- 



28 JAFFRKY CENTHNMAI.. 

tory within its limits, a brotherhood. — promoting the wclfai-e of 
each other and of the whole community, by the meeting-house, 
the school-house, and the highway, — and in tliese, and other 
ways, estabhshing good order, social intercoiu-se, and a kindly 
feeling towards each other. 

The To'ttTi was the efficient means which secured the pixvsper- 
itv of the household. The sevei-al families, farmers, mechanics, 
laborers, and professional persons, needed, for the dcAclopment 
of their resoiu-ces. and the gi'eatest enjoyment of their privileges, 
something beyond theii* isolated households, — something l^eyond 
even the mutual support of each other in their various neighbor- 
hoods, and they found it in the 'i'own. It enlarged, while it 
concenti^ted. their sympathies, formed and moulded their opin- 
ions, and sjave expression to theu* united Avill. Lastly, the mil- 
itai'v companv organizations Avere mostly within the Towu. — 
two Communities sometimes imiting to fiu-nish an exti*a article 
in this line. From these companies the ranks of the army have 
been recruited in time of war, — being hable to draft if necessaiy. 

In the time of the Revolution, when the ordinary mode of 
supph'ing the armv seemed hkely to fail, requsitions were made 
upon the towns to furnish ammimition and proA isious, and were 
promptiv answered. They were often fhe storehouses of am- 
munition. 

If any one who does not knoAv, wou'd seek an exemplification 
of the utility of the Town incorporations, let him look at Jaffrey 
today, and study her history. 

An admirable result of the Town organization was, that the 
Revolution, which followed almost immediately upon the incor- 
poration of this Town, did not place the country in a state of 
disintegration. The Town organization remained, — its efficien- 
cy necessarily somewhat impaired, — but the town officers, having 
been elected by the people, still retained their confidence and 
support. Such powers as could be exercised only in the name 
of the king, or imder the royal authority, were at first suspend- 
ed, and then abrogated ; but the same powers were immediately 
exercised under the authority of the people ; and the towns dur- 
ing all the time served to a great extent the purposes for which 
they were established. 



JAFFREY CEN'IEXXTAL. 29 

A Eevolutioiiary Convention, called by the Committee of Cor- 
respondence, in 1775, recommended that those who had been 
chosen into office in the usual manner should, as formerly, be 
considered the proper officers, and that the town, selectmen and 
other officers proceed in the usual manner in granting and col- 
lecting monies, &c., unless some particular direction Avas given ; 
— adding this significant paragraph : — 

" If anv, inimical to their country, or inattentive to the ruin 
which must ensue upon a contrary conduct, should refuse, we 
trust that all the friends of the country will effectually strength- 
en the hands of the selectmen, constables and collectors." 

It is not supposed that any one here by his refusal rendered 
it necessary, even to hint at a resort to the peculiar strengthen- 
ing plaster, thus indicated. 

February 13, 1775, the town voted unanimously to visit jNIr. 
Williams, of Keene, — a very extraordinary civility on the face of 
the vote. ^^ illiams was a lawyer, but the call on him was not 
for professional advice. — He was a tory, and this unusual dem- 
onstration had reference to that fact. The fiu-thcr proceedings 
in relation to the proposed visit are not of record. — It is a fair 
presumption that there was no tory in Jaffrey who might be 
visited with much less trouble. 

No other system could so Avell have supplied civil govern- 
ment, under such circumstances. 

It was more difficult to deal with matters of which the Courts 
of Justice had jiuisdiction. The Courts, on recomuiendation of 
the Convention, adjourned. 

Justices of the Peace could not ^^-ell issue compulsory process 
under the royal authority, in the existing circumstances. The 
collection of debts by suit was suspended, and the natural con- 
sequences were, in one instance at least, exemplified here. In 
the files of the Convention of 1775, is a memorial, or represen- 
tation, address to the " Honorable Provincial Congress " signed 
by Jetlii'o Bailey, William Turner and Roger Gilmore, Com- 
mittee of Correspondence, setting forth that Benjamin Nutting 
of Peterboro' Slip, so called, had entered a complaint to them 
against .lohn Davis, Junior, of Jaffrey, that u])(ui the second day 



30 JAIIKKY CEXTEXMAT.. 

of October, instant, as he came to the house of John Eaton, on 
some business, he was assaulted by said Davis, and abused in the 
most "soleni" manner, as appears by sundry evidences, — that not- 
withstandino- Davis was notified to attend and hear the evidences 
examined, he refused, — that he had often been requested to 
settle the matter, but remained obstinate, and persisted in his 
A-illainy, with insolence. 

The Committee enclosed the depositions and earnestly desired 
the Convention to take the matter into consideration, and either 
determine it between them, or invest th^ Comnittee with a prop- 
er authority to act, with instructions how to proceed in the case. 
It does not appear that any action was taken upon the subject. 

On the fifth of January, 1776, a " Form or Plan of Civil 
Government " was adopted by a Convention, or Congress, which 
met for the purpose, under which the affairs of the towns were 
asain transacted in legal form. The Form of Government was 
limited by its terms to continue " dui-ing the present unhappy 
contest with Great Britian," but served as a State Constitution 
for many years, and has been said to be the first State Consti- 
tution. S3Jit- thio - 4o g miptialLe} Noi i tih ^''Lliuli^i t Lnving foymerl 



This caused no change in the organization of the Town, or in 
its proceedings, except that the latter were now conducted, once 
more, under what proved to be a sufiicient legal authority. 

A few items in relation to the increase of the population, and 
the rate of taxation, may serve to show the comparative progress 
^ith the other towns. 

The Convention of 1775, ordered a survey to be made of the 
people in the several counties, for the purpose of determining 
the ratio of representation in the Assembly, from which it ap- 
pears that Jafirey had 351 inhabitants. Of thu'ty towns in the 
County, ten or eleven had a larger number. She had sixteen 
men in the army. This is a very strong delegation for such a 
small community, jvist organized, — larger than any of the towns 
not having more inhabitants. Keene had 756 inhabitants. 
Chesterfield, Westmoreland and Richmond a still greater num- 
ber. • 



JAFFREY CEXTEXNIAL. 31 

The Census, in 1790, gives JafFrey a population of 1235. 
There were then only six towns in the County with a popula- 
tion greater than this, and these, with the exception of Keene, 
lay on the South border, or on the Connecticut River, and so 
were more easy of access. Keene had 1314 inhabitants. 

In 1800 the population was 1341. Eleven towns had a larg- 
er population, mostly much more favorably situated. Keene 
had 1645. 

By an Act of the Assembly in 1777, determining the propor- 
tion of each town for every £1000 of the State taxes, Jaftrey's 
proportion was £5-9s.-5d. There were nine towns in the 
County having a greater valuation, — that of Keene being £10- 
5s.— 9d., — twenty-two having less. 

When, in 1780, a requisition was made for a hundi-ed and 
twelve thousand weight of beef for the army, the proportion of 
JafFrey was 7326 pounds; the proportion of Keene 11,309. 
The same year a new proportion of taxes gave JafFrey £6-10s.- 
lOd., Keene £10-ls.-lld. 

Another proportion in 1789 shows a comparative increase, fa- 
vorable to the prosperity of JafFrey, — that is, supposing that the 
duty to pay a larger proportion of taxes indicates in fact a larg- 
er ability to perform the duty, — which probably is not always 
the case. JafFrey is set at £7-12s.-5d., Keene £9-19s.-6d. 

Another proportion in 1794 gave for JafFrey £7-9s.-8d., 
Keene £9-14s.-6d. But in this year the valuation of Chester- 
field, Walpole and Westmoreland, lying on the Connecticut Riv- 
er, each exceeded that of Keene. 

It is not my purpose to refer in detail to the proceedings ot 
the town, in the exercise of its rights and the performance of its 
duties. This is the special province of the future historian, and 
to him, whoever he may be, I remit it. 

But a few brief notes, having reference to some of the subjects 
which have been mentioned, may find a place upon this occasion. 
The first meeting under the act of incorporation Avas for the 
choice of town officers only. It was called by Jonathan Stanley, 
specially authorized by the Charter, August 27, 1773, and was 
held September 14. 



32 JAFFKEY CEXTEXMAL. 

Another meeting was held September 28, to raise money for 
the building of roads, and the support of tlu' Gospel. 

April 26, 1774, it was voted to build a meeting-house ; and 
July 6, to build one of larger dimensions, — to let the building 
at public vendue, — that it should be raised by the middle of 
June next, at the town's cost, — with several other votes on the 
subject. 

It was voted in March 1775, that the Committee to build, 
provide all things necessary to raise the house at the cost of the 
town. But March 30, 1780, there was a vote to make allow- 
ance to Captain Henry Coffin for the barrel of rum which he 
paid for, to raise the meeting-house. The Captain it would 
seem, intervened patriotically, to supplement the deficiency of 
the provision made by the Committee, and waited a long time 
for reimbursement. 

There is a tradition that the meeting-house was raised on the 
day of the battle of Bunker Hill, and that the guns of that bat- 
tle were heard here. But this must be a mistake. When the 
matter is examined, the probabilities are against it. It is hard- 
ly probable that guns fired at Charlestown could be heard here, 
with the New Ipswich hills and the forest intervening, even on 
a quiet day, when there was no meeting-house to raise. More- 
over, the battle was on Saturday, which was as good a day lor a 
battle as any other day, but would hardly be selected as the 
time to raise a meeting-house, lest there should be some work 
remaining which ought to be performed the next day. 

The conclusion to be derived from the improbabilities is forti- 
fied by direct hear say evidence. I received a letter a few days 
since from Dr. Jeremiah Spofford, of Groveland, Mass., in which 
he says, " My father, Jeremiah Spofford, as a master carpenter, 
framed that church. He was employed to do it by Captain 
Samuel Adams, whose wife was his sister. Jacob Spofford and 
Joseph Haskell went up with him, to work on the frame. * * * 
My father often related, seventy years ago, that they raised the 
house, and that ending his job, they set out for home the next 
day, travelling " ride and tie,''^ three men, with one horse to car- 
ry tools and ease the men in turn ; — that coming doAvn through 



JAFFKEY CENTENNIAL. 33 

Towiiscnd, in the forenoon, they heard the roar of cannon, which 
proved to be the cannon of Bunker Hill, and coming over the 
Wcstford Hills, in the evening, they saw the light of Charles- 
town burning. ***** Captain Adams was one of the 
contractors to build the house, and was a carpenter himself." 

It may be objected that " unlucky " Friday, was as little like- 
ly as Saturday to be selected as the day to begin such a work. 
But the explanation seems easy. The town had voted to raise 
by the middle of June. The contract would naturally specify 
that as the time of performance. There would be a desire, and 
time enough, for compliance. The fifteenth of June was Thurs- 
day. If we suppose that to be the day selected, and that there 
was some unfinished work to be done on Friday, to complete 
the job, we shall have the carpenters on their homeward way 
on Saturday, in the localities in which Mr. Jeremiah Spofford 
placed them. 

We may give up the tradition without a sigh. Neither the 
meeting-house, nor the battle will suffer by the loss of it. 

There was some delay in settling a minister. Several candi- 
dates were hired. There was a vote that young men supply the 
pulpit ; and some others indicating that the services of some of 
the candidates were not quite satisfactory. But .Tiine 1st, 1780, 
it was voted to hear Mr. Caleb Jewett more, if he can be ob- 
tained; and September 4th, a vote to concur vnth the church in 
giving him a call. Why he did not accept, does not appear. — 
Perhaps from the insufficiency of the salary offered. He was, I 
think, a graduate of Dartmouth, of 1T76, a native of Newbury, 
Mass., and afterwards settled in Gorham, Maine. 

In 1782, they settled the Rev. Laban Ainsworth, a native of 
Woodstock, Connecticut; — a graduate of Dartmouth College in 
1778. 

The first vote for a salary was for £70 " while he suijplies the 
(lesk," — which was afterwards changed to "while he remains the 
minister of the town." Choosing with deliberation, they are en- 
titled to the credit of having abided by their determination. — 
Mr. Ainsworth lived to the age of more than a hundred years, 
— officiated without a colleague until 1832, — and remained as 



84 JAFFKEY CENTENNIAL. 

the pastor of the ohuri-'h until his eloath. but his hibors wore dis- 
continued a few years earlier. As many of you kueN\- him well. 
I ueed not speak of his appeturauce or services. A withered 
right arm was probably the reason why he did not write his ser- 
mons. If, as has been said, he sometimes looked up his text on 
Sxmday morning, after breakfast, the fact will serve to show his 
confidence in his powers of discussion. 

The tales respecting the jokes, practical and otherwise, pass- 
ing between him and Father Spragne. tu-e numerous, many of 
them probably fictitious. But there was, unquestionably, a suf- 
ficient encounter of wits to lay a good foundation for some of 
them. 

In the infancy of such a settlement, the ditficulties of estab- 
lishing and maintaining a school or schools would necessarily be 
very great. If the means of support had been abundant, the 
facilities for the attendance of the scholars must have been quite 
limited. 

The fii'st appropriation of .t'8 was made April IS, 177-3. 

Soon we find votes for the division of the money, indicating 
schools in difl'ereut parts of the township, — then a division in- 
to districts. 

That the interests of education ha-se received full support 
here, mav be inferred from the fact, that twenty-four young men 
have gradiuited at the ditierent colleges. Twenty of them at 
Pai-tniouth. 

It is not siu-prising that they deemed expendifiu-es upon the 
roads as of the fii-st importance. — AVill you think it strange 
when I sav that they appropriated much larger sums for high- 
ways than they did for the support of the gospel and the schools ? 
Will vou be astonished that at their second meeting they voted 
£80, lawful monev. to be worked out on the roads, and only £ti 
to proc\u-e preaching, and that this disparity increased so that 
April IS. 1775. when they voted £8 for the school, they again 
voted £6 foi- preaching, and £130 for the roads .' 

We mxist recollect that the efficiency of their maintenance of 
preaching depended upon theii* first mending their ways. 



JAFFHEY CENTENMAL. 35 

it may hv said, that roads lay at the foundation of tlicir pros- 
perty, spiritual, as aycII as temporal. Without roads the settle- 
ment could not succeed ; and if that failed, the support of relig- 
ious teaching, and the school failed with it. As the roads were 
made better, settlements were encouraged, the ability to support 
the institutions of religion Ayas enlarged, and the appropriations 
were enlarged also. 

It is with great regret that I refer again to my inability to giye 
some better account respecting the earliest inhabitants. 

Perhaps my recollections of a later date may possess some in- 
terest, and serye with those of others, to fill a page of local his- 
tory. 

In the early part of the present Chi-istian century, there was 
clustered in the vicinity of the meeting-house, which then had 
no steeple, the house of Eey. Mr. Ainsworth at the Southeast 
corner of the Conuuon, — Danforth's Tavern, where Cutter's Ho- 
tel now stands, — the store of Joseph Thorndike, Esq., and Da- 
vid Page's store, on the East side, Cragin's Saddlery Shop on 
the Northeast corner, and on the North a large pile of buildings 
belonging to Joseph Cutter, Esq., of which only the main dwell- 
ing-house now remains. He kept a tavern, and had very ample 
accommodations for his customers. He was, I think, much the 
largest landholder in the township, and had an ambition to set- 
tle each of his niunerous sons on a farm, which he accomplished 
to a great extent. At the Southwest corner of the burying 
ground was a school-house. East of Danforth's Tavern was his 
blacksmith's shop, North of which Avas the dAvelling-house of 
Capt. Samuel Adams. 

Commencing at the Common, the road to the Northeast, lead- 
ing to Peterboro', and to the Southeasterly part of Dublin, passed 
by a small house on the corner, at the left, no longer there, — 
Avhich Avas occupied at one time by Mr. Cummings, afterAvards 
l)y Dr. Johnson, and by Jonathan Lufkin, — there tui-ning North 
the road extended, by the place Avhere the IMelville Acadenn' 
noAv stands, less than a quarter of a mile, Avhere it forked, the di- 
rect road proceeding Northerly toAvards Dublin, by the houses 
of Mr. NcAvton and Thomas French, — the Easterly fork, which 



3(i JAFFKEY CENTEN'MAI,. 

was the principal road, running ovor tlio hill by a housc^ occu- 
pied by David Smiley, Esq., Attorney at Law. 

This house has gone, and the road over the hill has gone with 
it. The more modern route, Northeast, by Mr. John Cutter's 
tannery, and Easterly of the meadow, entered this old road at 
the foot of the hill, on the East. 

Nearly a mile East of the village was the house of Widow 
Bryant. 

The road forked a few rods Easterly. On the Northerly 
branch, which branched again, lived Samuel Gary, Benjamin 
Lawrence, Deacon Jesse Maynard, Azael Gowing, Moses Stick- 
ney, Samuel Stickney, Silas Pierce, Jacob Jewell, Benj. Erost. 

Proceeding a short distance, the Easterly branch appeared 
to run into a North and South road, but the Northerly part M^as 
the main road to the Northeast. A few rods to the South was 
the house of Alpheus Crosby. In front, that of Asa Sawyer. 

Pursuing the main road, at a distance of about half a mile, 
on the right side, — was the house of Lieut. Thomas 
Adams, which has disappeared. Another was built near, 
on the left side, many years since, occupied by Daniel Emery. 
Not far beyond, at the place where a road now leads 
off to the East village, there came into this road from the 
West a short branch road on which lived Mr. Bates. At 
this point came another fork. On the Northerly branch which 
has been slightly changed at its commencement, a quarter of a 
mile brought the traveller to another fork, the Westerly road 
being merely a local branch, terminating at the house soon after 
owned by Samuel Pierce. On the Easterly or main branch, we 
came next to the school-house of the district of my early boy- 
hood, — and in the field some quarter of a mile Southeast was 
the house of Ebenezer Burpee. 

INIiss Hitty Brooks was one of the teachers of the summer 
school, a most estimable young lady, whose kindness dwells in 
my memory. She afterwards married Samuel Pierce. 

The old school-house has disappeared, and a few years more 
will carry all its memories with it. A few of its inmates at a 
later date still remain. 



JAFFRET CEXTENXIAL. 37 

Starting once more upon our Avay, we find next where was 
the house of Whitcomb Powers, at the base of the hill, on the 
left. It is no longer there. There was none a little onward, 
M'here the residence of my late friend Levi Fisk, Esq., has stood 
for many years. On the Northerly branch of a fork of the road 
a few rods further running to TAvitchell's mills, in the Easter- 
ly part of Dublin, -was the house of his father Thomas Fisk. At 
the fork last mentioned was formerly the shop of John Pushee, 
of which nothing but the ruins remained so far back as I can re- 
collect. I have the impression it had been burned. 

Thence, pursuing the Easterly branch of the highway, next 
came the house of my father, who came here from Pepperell in 
May, 1780, settled in the unbroken forest, and cleared his farm 
himself, with such assistance as he coidcl obtain. Some of you 
know the place. I am not aware of the particular inducement 
which led him to settle there. Probably a representation that 
it was a nice bit of land, dog cheap; — and cheapness was a 
consideration not to be despised.* It proved rough and rocky, 
and admitted of any amount of hard labor. Twenty-five years 
of patient, persevering industry had made a difference in the 
appearance of things. There were rods of stone wall, requiring 
some knowledge of the mysteries of compound addition, to say 
hoAV many. There were cattle and sheep, — hay in the barn, — 
a patch of flax in the field ; — and a little wheel, and a great 
Avlieel, and a great loom in the house. f The wood pile, would 
have deemed itself neglected if it had not extended a hundred 
feet, "more and not less," along the wall, with an indefinite 
breadth, and a height which no one undertook to measure. 
The fire-place in the common working-room, received back losrs 
two and a half feet in diameter. I am tempted to put on the 
other half foot, but refrain. From the great brick oven, by the 
side of fire place, there issued, from time to time, baked pulnp- 



*Consicleriitioii 2G0 pounds, lawful money, — 102 acres of land, part of 
lot 20 in tVie lirst range. 

fGirls " hired themselves out" to spin. When the cloth was fulled and 
dressed, the tailoress of the neighborhood came, cut, and made up the 
clothes. — When the hides were tanned, the shoemaker, in his rounds, 
came once or twice in the .year, and made up a stock of boots and shoes 
for the family, staying perhaps a week for the purpose. 



38 JAFFRKV CENTEXNIAL. 

kins, such as no cooking stove, invented or to be invented, can 
ever produce, — and there was no watering of the milk. 

On winter evenings apples were roasting and spluttering upon 
the hearth, — and there was a mug of cider there. Checkers 
and jack-straws were seen occasionally, and some card teeth 
were set. 

My brothers caught minks, and musquash, partridges and 
pickerel, rabbits and woodchucks, — and in haying time, I took 
up bumble bees' nests, getting poor pay for my labor. 

In order to economise time, I give this brief sketch of a single 
household, instead of a more elaborate statement which I was 
preparing respecting farming life generally in the town ; — and 
in the hojie that the personality may be excused, in considera- 
tion of its brevity. Any one bv piu'suing things to their natu- 
ral antecedents and conclusions, may jxidge somewhat of the 
whole from these fcAv jiarticulars. Exceptions of course.* 

Half a mile onward was the house of the Widow Turner. — 
■The widow relished a joke, and perhaps I may be pardoned for 
telling a short story, which she told herseif. She had taken her 
grist to be ground at the mills of Samuel TAvitchell. Esq., the 
father of the celebrated surgeon Dr. Amos Twitchell, just Avith- 
in the limits of Dublin, nding, of course, upon the top of the 
bags. The Squire who was somewhat of a humorist, had a hired 
man named White, certainly not beautiful to behold. The wid- 
ow's description of what occurred further Avas in this Avise : — 
" When I got there the Squire Avas in the yard, and I said to him, 
'help me off my horse, Scpiire ; ' Avhich he did. Then I said to 
him, 'now kiss me Squire; ' and he turned and called ' White, 
White, White ; ' as if he was calling some great dog, and there 
came out of the mill the ugliest lookiny; critter that ever I set 



*Tlio manufactures of eottou Avere those of the household. opHrated by 
hand poAver. Edmund Snow, of Peterboro'. manufacturtd hand cards for 
cotton and avooI, punching the holes in the leathers, and preparing the 
teeth and distiibuting them among the ditlerent families in the rejiion 
round about, to be set by the young people. Avho in that Avay put " store 
pay " in their purse. At the Peterboro' Centennial in 183'J, my brother 
Isaac gave some account of his achievements in setting these card teeth. 
Perhaps it Avas in this way that lie was led to take an interest in the estah- 
lisihment of cotton manufacturies in Peterboro' and elseAvhere. 



JAFFKEY CENTENMAL. 3ii 

my eyes on, and the Squire said, ' Come here, White, and kiss 
this woman ; — I always keep a man to do that drudgery for me.' " 

A short distance farther, at the extreme Northeast corner of 
the town, was Samuel Saunders, a very good carpenter as well 
as a farmer. Here the road turned short to the South, and pass- 
ing the house of Elijah Wellman, connected near the line oi Pe- 
terboro' with the Southerly branch, which was left soon after 
passing Lieut. Adams's, A house has existed South of Well- 
man's, occupied by Andrew Holmes, but I think of a later date. 

Turning back to the Southerly branch, and taking the direc- 
tion to Pcterboro', there was near the fork the house of Eoger 
Brigham. Then came the house of David SaAvtell, then Parker 
Maynard, then Samuel Patrick, then Air. Snow. 

Samuel Dakin, Esq., Attorney at Law, who afterwards re- 
moved to New Hartford, in the State of New York, purchased 
land North of Capt. Adams, in the middle of the town, and built 
the house now occupied by Dr. Fox, about 1805. My father, 
having bought a corner lot of Mr. Dakin, erected the house at 
the Northerly end of that street, and I became an inmate of the 
school-house at the corner of the burying ground. There is a 
reminiscence of discipline connected with this house. The rules 
of the school forbid whispering of course. Having a desire to 
say something to a young Miss who sat near me, I forgot the 
rule I suppose, and she must have joined in the transgression, 
for the eagle eye of the teacher. Miss Maria Blanchard, detect- 
ing this violation of order, we were forthwith sentenced to sit 
each with an arm around the other's neck. I do not give this 
as an instance of the ordinary discipline. On the contrary it 
was an unusual, as well as a cruel punishment, and may there- 
fore be regarded as unconstitutional. But to prevent misaj)pre- 
hension, I have taken occasion to say, that I have since seen the 
time when I should have borne such a dispensation with a much 
greater degree of philosophy.* 



*The school hooks were Webster's Spelling Book, with a grim frontis- 
piece, supposed to represent that ambitious lexicographer, Webster's 
Third Part, American Preceptor, The Columbian Orator, Young Ladies' 
Accidence, Murray's Grammar, Morse's Geography, and Pike's Arithmetic. 



40 JAFFREY CENTEXXIAL. 

Pursuing tlie road Northwesterly from the s;:hool-house, there 
Avas at the foot of the hill, a house occupied by Widow Hale, 
then one occupied by Hugh Gragg, and a few rods Westerly, at 
the junction of the old road running Westerly to Marlboro' and 
the road running Nortlierly to Dublin, there was in the corner, 
the house of Dr. Adonijah Howe the elder, the beloved physi- 
cian. He afterwards built a much larger one just North, which 
you have known as occupied by Daniel Cutter. The place is 
now desi^'natcd as the Shattuck Farm. Jonathan Gasje lived off 
Northeast froin this point, on a private road. A house has since 
been built, farther on the Dublin road, by Joel Cutter, and be- 
yond this point was another fork, — the left hand, running to- 
wards the mountain, led to the houses of Joseph Cutter, junior, 
John Cutter, second, and Daniel Cutter who afterwards, occu- 
pied the house built by Dr. Howe. 

All those were sons of Joseph Cutter, Esc]^. A Southerly branch 
turning off near Joseph Cutter, junior's, led to the houses of Jo- 
seph Mead, Mr. Brooks, David Cutter and Jacob Hammond. 

The principal road, which turned to the right at the fork, led 
Northerly over the hill to a house owned by Joseph Thorndike. 
Esq., afterwards by John Conant, Esq., who has made himself 
widely and favorably known by his very liberal donations to di- 
vers public objects. It is now owned by the president of the 
day, — who speaks for himself. 

The travel over the hill has since been diverted to the other 
branch, by a slight alteration, — in consequence of the modern 
discovery, (especially unknown to Turnpike proprietors in for- 
mer days,) that in some cases it is no farther to go around a hill 
than it is to go over it, and that the larger load can be drawn on 
the level ground. Beyond, on the road to Dublin, were David' 
Corey, Mr. Bullard and Mr. Johnson. 

Of the other highways in the town, and the persons living 
upon them, my early recollections are of course less particular. 
I have a note of most of the inhabitants of the different sections, 
but for the location and even the names of many of them, I am 
indebted to J\ir. Ethan Cutter, whose early opportunities for ac- 



JAFFKEY CEXTENMAL. 41 

quiring a full knoM-ledge of the different localites were of the 
best, and whose memory of them is of the same character. "Were 
there no reason but lack of time, I must leave this part of the 
subject to others who may be heard today, craving indulgence 
for subjoining a few notes respecting the Third New Hampshire 
Turnpike. 

This Tm-npike was incorporated in December, 1799, runnino- 
from Bellows Falls, Vermont, to Ashby, Mass., fifty miles, and 
cost, it was said, fifty thousand dollars. It occupied portions of 
the old road in various places, — near the mountain, near the 
middle of the town, — and eastward of it. It struck off from 
the old road at John Cutter's tannery, and at Spofford's mills, 
and run by Col. Benjamin Prescott's tavern, in the East part of 
the town, and tlii'ough " Tophet swamp " into New Ipswich. 

The thi'ee men just named were marked men in their day. 
Mr. John Cutter carried on a large tannery, for that time, and 
made it a profitable business, which has since been enlarged. 
His childi'en were among my old school-mates, and I am pleased 
to see some of them with us today. With the exception of 
Joseph Cutter, Esq., he has probably more representatives in 
town than any other of his contemporaries. 

Deacon Eleazer Spofford, who purchased of Mr. Borland, his 
farm and mills, in 1778, was a tall gentleman of a grave de- 
meanor, pleasant smile, and a kind heart, — I think universally 
beloved. He led the singing for very many years. If he had 
an enemy in the world, that enemy must have been an unrea- 
sonable man. He lost a young son in the biu'ning of Rev. Mr. 
Ainsworth's house, in 1786. His mills were complete for that 
day. In the grist mill was a' 'jack,' which if it was not the pro- 
genitor, was the prototype, of the modern elevator in hotels and 
stores. It was worked by water power, to carry the wheat, as 
soon as ground, to the bolter in the attic. A ride on it, with 
his son Luke, then miller, afterwards clergyman, was a treat to 
the boys who brought wheat to be ground.* 



*Dr. Spofford saj'S " He had for many years the best flouring mills in 
that part of New Hampshire.", 

He removed to Bradford, Mass., now Groveland, in 1821. and died there 
in 1828. 



42 JAI'MvKV f'ENTEXXIAr.. 

A grandson of Deacon Spofforcl was Chief Justice of Louisi- 
ana at the time of the breaking out of the rebelUoa, and another 
is now Librarian of the Congressional Library. 

There" must have been some controversy respecting the loca- 
tion of the tui-npike. In a poetical New Year's Address, sent 
from Parnassus to New Ipswich, soon after, it was said that 
the muse could relate, — 

•' How Prescott and Merriam made a staiul 
And l)ent the road to suit their land." 

But she did not do it, and I can not. 

Col. Prescott, as I remember him, was another of the ta-ll 
men of J affrey, — of powerful frame, — and an influential man 
in the town. If any man could bend a turnpike, he might be 
expected to do it. 

The principal taverns on the turnpike were those of Sweetser 
in Marlboro', — Millikeii, Danforth and Prescott, in Jaffrey, — 
and Merriam and Batchelder in New Ipswich, celebrated hous- 
es in their day. 

It was one of the principal thoroughfares from Central Ver- 
mont to Boston, and the transportation over it in the winter was, 
of course, quite large, as the route thi'ough Rindge was not then 
a great highway. This winter transportation was generally by 
two horse teams, attached to square lumber boxes, so called, 
loaded on the downward transit principally with pork, grain, 
beans, birtter, cheese, and other country produce ; and on their 
return trip with iron, molasses, rum, sugar, codfish, and other 
groceries. The diy goods of that day were principally of home 
manufacture. 

Occasionally a severe storm, blocking the roads badly, would 
compel these teams to stop at the nearest of the taverns named, 
where the loggerhead was always in the fire in winter, and the 
landlord ready to make a " good stiff mug of flip." 

Some of my auditory may not have heard the name before. 
It was concocted of home made beer, well sweetened, — a suitable 
proportion of West India rum, — and heated by the loggerhead 
to a proper temperature. When an egg Avas beaten in, it was 
called " bellows top," partly perhaps from its superior quality. 



JAFFKEY CEXTENXIAL, 43 

and partly from the greater quantity of white froth that swelled 
up on the top of it. 

With ten or fifteen teamsters gathered together by one of 
these snow blockades, and a fair allowance of flip, of course "the 
mirth and fun grew fast and furious;" — and when the storm 
was over, and the road began to be " broken out " the long 
line of teams, especially those ascending the hills to the West, 
Avas something to see. 

The mail stage between Keene and Boston, for a long time, 
run over this road, — once a week, — twice, — daily, except 
Sundays, — then a despatch line, called the telegraph,* through 
in twelve hours, — superseded by the Railroad through Fitch- 
burg ; so that the crack of the stage driver's whip, and the blast 
of his horn, no longer echo among the hills. 

The wayside inn, for the accommodation of the passing trav- 
eller, has fallen from its high estate, through the introduction of 
the railroads ; and from the same cause, along with the introduc- 
tion of other beverages, the institution of temperance societies, 
and the passage of prohibitory laws, the glory of Flip has de- 
parted, and its name is almost forgotten. 

The turnpike was not a source of great profit, and was finally 
laid out as a common high^vay, the towns paying the proprietors 
a moderate sum in damages. 

The beautiful and busy village of East Jaffrey, with its large 
cotton factory, and divers other manufactures, its hotel, stores, 
bank and dwellings, and with a railroad running thi'ough it, is 
comparatively of modern creation. 

A short time since, I summed up my recollections of its peo- 
ple and business, — as I first knew it ; — Dea. SpofFord, and his 
mills, — Abner SpofFord, and his blacksmith shop, — and Joseph 
Lincoln, and his clothier's shop. — William Hodge and his farm 
constituted a Northern suburb. 

I must not omit to mention Amos Fortune. He was born in 
Africa, — brought to this country as a slave, — purchased his free- 

♦Tliis line was established b}^ Col. Freuch, then of Keene, now of Peter- 
boro' ; and Col. Shepherd, then of Boston, now of Manchester. 



44 JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

dom, — purchased and then married his wife, — came to this 
place in 1781, — and lived subsequently about a mile Northeast 
of Spoiford's mills, where he had a small tannery. 

At that time any person who had come to dwell within a" 
town, and been there received and entertained by the space of 
three months, not having been warned to depart by some person 
appointed by the selectmen, was reputed an inhabitant, and 
the proper charge of the town in case he came to stand in need 
of relief. This power of " warning out " was given to the towns 
that they might protect themselves against pauperism ; and in 
some towns the selectmen were so careful of the interests of the 
town, that they warned all new comers to depart, — so zealous, 
that in one instance, as I have heard, the town having settled a 
minister, the selectmen forthwith warned him out. 

Such general warnings were not practiced in this town, but 
Fortune was warned out in Sept. 1781, doubtless from an appre- 
hension that he might become a pauper. Like all other persons 
similarly notified, he disregarded the warning, and he lived here 
the remainder of his life. Dying in 1801, without children, at 
the age of ninety-one, as stated on his gravestone, (which, as I 
recollect him, an active business man, seems to me doubtful at 
least,) he by his last will, after a provision for gravestones, an- 
other for the support of his wife during her life, and a small 
legacy to an adopted daughter, empowered his executor Deacon 
Spoffard, if there was any remainder of his estate, to "give a hand- 
some present to the Chui'ch of which he Avas a member, and the 
remaining part, if any there be, to give as a present for the sup- 
port of the school in School-House No. 8." The Church re- 
ceived under this bequest in May, 1805, $100, — partly expended 
in the purchase of a communion service, — still in their posses- 
sion ; and in September, 1809, the Judge of Probate ordered 
$233.95, the balance in the hands of the executor, to be paid 
over to the selectmen of Jaffrey, " agreeable to a special act of 
the legislatiu-e of the state of Ncav Hampshire, passed on the 
15th of June last," This act was passed because no person was 
mentioned in the will to receive and apply the fund. It is still 



'JAFFKEY CEXTENXIAL. 45 

held by the selectmen in trust for the benefit of the District. — 
We are aware that these sums represented much larger values 
at that time, than like sums do at the present day. • 

We have come together, with hearts full of thanksgiving to 
the Great Disposer of Events, that He has permitted us to as- 
stnnble here, to commemorate the organization of civil institu- 
tions and government in our beloved municipal homestead. 

But an occasion like this cannot be one of unmixed joy. 

•■ Time rolls his ceaseless course." 

" Still it creeps on. 

Each little moment at another's heels. 

Till hours, days, years and ages are made up, 

Of such sniHll parts as these, and men look back 

Worn and bewildered, wondering how it is." 

" When in this vale of years I backward look, 
And miss such numbers, numbers too of such, 
Firmer in health and greener in their age. 
And stricter on their guard, and titter far 
To play Life's subtle game, I scarce believe 
I still survive." 

Death has removed, not only all the early inhabitants, and 
many Avho were familiar with the history of a later date, because 
principal actors therein, but many who, if less conspicuous, were 
not less dear to us : and Ave pause a moment to dwell with a rev- 
erential remembrance, — with filial affection, — with devoted 
love, — on the memory of those whose animated faces would have 
greeted us at this time, had they been spared to this day. Alas, 
— for them, time is no more. 

The sum of human joys and human sorrows, which have been 
felt within the limits of this town during the past century, can 
only be known to Omniscience. The jovs have passed, and are 
passing, Avith little or no record of their existence. And so of 
many, perhaps most, of the sorrows. But there is a parcel of 
ground, of small extent, on the broAv of the hill, and adjoining 
the Common, Avhich contains records reminding us of the sor- 
roAvs of ourselves and others, Avhich are of a more enduring 
character. 



46 JAI'FHKY fKN'I'KXMAT., 

There rest the remains of my beloved and venerated parents, 
my father dying at the age of seventy-eight, and my mother liv- 
ing until near ninety-seven. Other fathers and mothers, of like 
ages, are gathered there, shocks of corn fully ripe, and fit to be 
garnered; whom we must mourn, but with the consolation that 
they had done their duty in the community, — had fought the 
good fight, — had finished their course, — had kept the faith. 

But these records tell other tales. 'I'hero repose the husband 
and father, the wife and mother, who fell by the wayside, in the 
meridian of life ; — who appeared to have before them years of 
happiness and usefulness to themselves and others, — upon Avhom 
young children were dependent, and to whom friends looked for 
counsel and for guidance. 

Brothers and sisters, young men and maidens, who were just 
entering upon the threshold of existence, with a life of useful- 
ness and honor and prosperity in antici])ation, lie there sid(> bv 
side. 

What agonies of grief, suppr(>ssed and irrepressible, lia-\e rent 
the hearts of survivors, as the mournful processions have passed 
within the gate, and consigned the remains of the beloved objects 
to their places of final rest. 

Hallowed be the spot Avhere the dust of the century is gath- 
ered together, and around whidi is clustered a century of th(^ 
greatest of human sorrows. 

Whatever of sadness may be in tlu^ retros]ject, it is iae( t that 
we should celebrate the hiuicb'edth anniversary of an orgaiiiza- 
tion fraught with so much of usefulness to the persons Avho have 
lived within its limits. 

We are here on a clay that marks an era. 

Let us rejoice that this town incorporation will be continued 
for the benefit and advantage of the generations who are advanc- 
ing to its possession. 

Let us rejoice that we may go onward into the new century, 
though it be to some of us but for a short period, and to none of 
us to its close ; and that space is yet granted us to do something, 
not only for the comfort and welfare of those who are dear to us, 
but of the community around us. 



JAFFKEY CENTENNIAT,. 4T 

And iioAv, assembled here as the surviving representatives of 
the first century of our incorporation, and standing just within 
the threshold of its successor, let us dedicate this new municipal 
century, in which the town and its in-dwellers are to do service 
for another hundred years, to the prosecution and extension of 
every good and beneficent work of its predecessor. 

I feel assured that you will join with me Mdien T sav : — We 
dedicate it to the promotion of Religion. 

ISTot a religion which leans upon the State for its support, and 
depends upon faith without works; — but that religion Avhich 
sustains the State bv the inculcation of truths which lie at the 
foundation of oro-anized and orderly society, and siipports the 
government by its works. Not that religion which has its great- 
est regard for forms and ceremonies, and the washing of cups 
and platters ; but that which sanctifies the heart and purifies the 
life. — Not that religion, if such there be, which enters into em- 
bittered controversies about dogmas, and disputes zealously about 
trifles; but that religion which being first pure, is "then peace- 
able, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits ; " 
and which teaches the love of God with our whole heart, and 
the love of our neighbor as of ourselves. 

We dedicate it to education and sound learning. 

Not that learnina: which attempts from metaphysical nothings 
to make up a unit, — the votaries of which, multiplying them- 
selves by themselves, think that they sum up the infinite, and 
something beyond; — but that learning which leads to the belief, 
in the language of the arithmetical aphorism of Parson Wiggles- 
worth, of MaMen, that 

■'Nanerht inyti'd to nfuisrlit can ne'er make ana:ht. 
Nor rvphers malfP a enni. 
Nor finite to the infinite. 
T?v mnltipl vina: come." 

Not to that training which leads self-sufficient people to at- 
tempt to magnify themselves, by multitudes of projects for mak- 
ing a new world different from, and thus better, than that which 
God made ; — but to a system of education which has due regard 
to the nature of things, and to the constitution of mankind, and 



4S JAFTREY CENTENNIAL. 

the ends which the Creator hitended they should pursue; and 
which seeks by measures consistent with creation, as it exists, 
to perform the whole duty which the Creator requires, in the 
world as he has made it. 

Not to that theory of education Avhich proposing that all per- 
sons should be educated up to the utmost limit of Avhich they are 
capable, becomes a practical and mischievous humbug; — but to 
that theory which shall provide an education of the highest char- 
acter for all the members of the community, with reference to the 
needful discharge of the various employments and duties which 
must necessarily exist. 

Not to that systtm of tducation which by "raising the stand- 
ard," as it is called, subjects the young to such demands upon 
their intellect, in the time of their immatimty, as to impair if 
not destroy the physical powers, and thereby render intellectu- 
al acquisitions useless; — but to that system which recognizes the 
physical as well as the intellectual, and seeks to develop both 
according to their necessities, — and this not by subjecting first 
the one and then the other to an extraordinary strain, but by a 
moderation that shall be known in all things. 

Not to that education Avhich casts odium upon labor, and in- 
duces young men and women to endeavor to escape from its 
wholesome, invigorating influences, by a resort to cities for the 
purpose of begging for a situation, where ease shall lead to pov- 
erty ; or which seeks, through political partisanship, for some 
petty clerkship under Government, leaving the successful incum- 
bent without occupation, or the means of an honest livelihood, 
when the office falls into the hands of the next eager aspirant, 
who has pushed him from his official stool ; but that education 
which dignifies labor, and seeks to improve its modes of action, — 
Avhich qualifies the recipient to occupy his place in life, whatev- 
er it may be, and with cheerfiilness and alacrity to do the duty 
which the State and the community demand of him. 

May I add a constitutional provision. 

Not to that learning which endangers the compromises of the 
Constitution by attempts to maintain that the United States were 
a Nation before thev were States, and that the Constitution was 



JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 49 

formed by that Nation ; — nor that other learning which Avonlcl 
make shipwreck of Constitutional rights and safeguards, by theo- 
ries which sophistically give to the War PoAvers of the President 
and Congress a predominance? over Constitutional guaranties, — 
but that learning which accepting the undisputed facts of history, 
arrives at the conclusion that the Constitution was adopted by 
the several peoples of the different States, whereby the peoples 
of those States became a Nation for the piu'poses manifested by 
it, — and that the war powers, designed to preserve, cannot be 
rightfully exercised to destroy, the liberties of the people. 

We dedicate it to Philantlii-opy and Charity. 

Not to that philanthi'opy which consists in words and eschews 
works ; not to that charity which, beginning at home, ends in the 
same spot ; nor that charity which does hope things are not 
quite so bad as they are reported, but is fearful that they may 
be worse ; — but to that philan1;hropy which does the deeds of 
the Good Samaritan, and which is open-hearted and open-hand- 
ed within the limits of prudence; and to that charity Avhich 
suffereth long and is kind, which envieth not, is not easily pro- 
voked, thinketh no evil, hopeth all things, and endureth all 
things. 

We dedicate it to Ambition. 

Not that ambition which seeks a seat in Congress by bribery, 
or any other seat by the petty arts of the partisan politician ; — 
but that ambition described by Lord Mansfield, when he said, — 
" I wish popularity, but it is that popularity Avhich follows, nut 
that which is run after ; it is that popularity which, sooner or 
later, never fails to do justice to the pursuit of noble ends by 
noble means." 

We dedicate it to rational Amusement. 

Not to the games or pursuits which blunt the conscience, de- 
prave the habits, enervate the mind, and vitiate the taste ; — but 
to the recreations which solace from care, stimulate the fancy, 
develop the muscle, sustain the nerves, and give, through so- 



50 JAFFKEY CENTFAXIAL. 

cial intercourse, a relaxation from toil, a kindly regard for our 
neighbors, and courtesy to our associates, whether within or 
without the township. 

We dedicate it to the wise and just exercise of all the politi- 
cal and municipal Eights conferred upon the Town ; and to the 
faithful discharge of all corresponding Duties. 

Finally, as the sum of all, we dedicate it to Human Happi- 
ness, and the Glory of God. 

And may His blessing rest upon it, and hallow it, from its 
commencement to its termination. 



JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 51 



^ I> P TC ]vr D I X A. 



Note to page 15. — A portion of JafFrey was included in 
the original location of Peterborough. 

The township of Peterborough was granted by Massachusetts, 
to inhabitants of that Colony, with power to the grantees to se- 
lect the particular location. Under the erroneous supposition 
that the line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was 
that claimed by the former, the grantees made their location be- 
yond the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, and embraced within their 
" six miles square " a large portion of the valley between the 
base of the mountain on the east, (now known as Peterboro' 
mountain), and the IMonadnock, 

When it was ascertained that the location was within New 
Hampshire, and fell within the purchase of the Masonian Pro- 
prietors, Jos. Blanchard, as their agent, cut off a range and a 
half on the western side, in order to provide for a tier of town- 
ships east of the Monadnock, and the portion thus cut off was 
included in Monadnock Nos. 2 & 3, (Jaffrey and Dublin). 

The Masonian Proprietors not only released the residue of the 
township to the grantees under Massachusetts, but gave them, 
to make up their quantity, a strip of land on the East, of equal 
extent to that taken off on the West. This however, being on 
the eastern mountain, was comparatively worthless. — The grant- 
ees of Peterboro', in grateful recognition of the kindness of the 
Masonian Proprietors in confirming so much of their invalid ti- 
tle, and in giving them an addition to make up their quantity, 
gave the Proprietors several lots in the township, — but they 
took care to locate them all in the new addition, on the east ! — 
Ex rdadone Dr. Albert. Smith. 



PPEISTDIX B. 

Note to Page 24. — Something more may be said upon this 
subject, and as I have no wish to recur to it again, I add here : 

The compact made on board the Mayflower, which furnished 
the foundation of the first Town organization, — at Plymouth, 



52 JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

was "occasioned, partly by the discontented and mutinous 
speeches of some of the strangers " on board the ship, and part- 
ly by the reason that " such an act by them done, (this theii* 
condition considered) might be as firm as any patent, and in 
some respects more sure." The matters which "occasioned" 
the compact had, therefore, no particular relation to the chiu'ch 
polity. — It recited that they were loyal subjects of King James, 
that they had undertaken for the glory of God, and advancement 
of the Christian faith, and honor of then- King and country, a 
voyage to plant a Colony, — and by it they combined themselves 
together, into a civil body politic, for the better promotion of 
those ends, and by virtue of it, " to enact, constitute and frame 
such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and of- 
fices from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and con- 
venient for the general good of the Colony." 

There is nothing, either in the reasons given for the act, or in 
the purposes of the expedition as recited, or in the agreement 
actually executed, which indicates that it was derived from the 
church organization, — or which in any way refers to the Con- 
gregational polity, or to any particular administration of church 
government, — and this, taken Avith the statements which are con- 
tained in it, tends to show that the town organization in Ply- 
mouth, which arose from it, was not even suggested by the cler- 
ical. 

Quite consistently with this origin of the Town organization, 
there mignt have been a different chiurch polity previously, and 
any church polity which the signers pleased, might have been 
adopted afterwards. The church polity of the same people, 
had, as a matter of course, a similar foundation, that of self-gov- 
ernment, — but that fact did not of itself originate or give rise 
to the civil polity. It only accompanied it, each acting within 
its own sphere. 

This organization of Plymouth became substantially a State, 
as well as a town. But the State was for the purpose of general 
government, and did not derive its ideal from the chiu-ch; and 
when, by reason of the extension of the settlements, other towns 
were organized, it was for the purpose of ordering and manag- 



JAFFEEY CENTENNIAL. 53 

ing their local affairs, — the support of religious teachers, along 
with the making and mending of highways, — the support of 
schools, — the preservation of the peace, thi'ough the instrumen- 
tality of the constable, — and the prevention of of trespass by 
cattle, thi'ough the institution of pounds. 

The principle of self-government upon which the original 
settlement was founded, and upon which in reference to their 
local affairs, the Towns were afterwards organized, was not on- 
ly a fundamental principle with the emigrants, but was a neces- 
sity under the circumstances attending the emigration. No one 
had authority to rule, — there were no means of government ex- 
cept by agreement, or force, — and they agreed upon a govern- 
ment for themselves, to be administered by themselves. It must 
have been the same if no church had then been organized among 
them. The same principle operated in regard to the chiu'ch. — 
When the people broke from the authority of the bishops there 
was no authority in ecclesiastical matters, except their own, and 
thus Congregationalism came into existence. 

It may be said, (and it seems to be the only argument which 
can be used in favor of the position), that the principles of the 
churches "led to this form of government," — 'that the church 
organization was first, and that the Town coming after, adopted 
the same principle of self-government. To this " Post hoc, sed 
von propter hoc,'''' — after, but not hy reason of the chiu'ch oro-an- 
ization, is a sufficient reply. There must be something more 
than this, to sustain the assertion that " it was a Congregational 
Church meeting, that first suggested the idea of a New England 
Town meeting." 

Meetings of subscribers to the Compact made on board the 
Mayflower, grew out of the Compact itself. 

A P F E N 3D I X C. 

Note to page 38. — Attempts to maimfacture cotton, by ma- 
chinery, were made in this country as early as 1787, and in sub- 
sequent years in that century. The machinery was imperfect 
and the results, of course, unsatisfactory. The first mill, in New 



54 JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

Hampshire, was established in 1804, iu New Ipswich. The first 
cotton mill in Peterboro' was incorporated 1808. It spun and 
sold yarn, but for years manufactured no cloth. — For these dates 
I am indebted to a small volume entitled, " Introduction and 
Early prot^ress of the cotton manufacture in the United States," 
written by vSamuel Batchelder, Esq., a native of Jaffrey, and 
published in 1863. Prior to the manufacture of cloth here, the 
cheaper cotton cloth, in the market, was a sleasy fabric, manufac- 
tured in India and England, — the latter heavily starched, to 
conceal its flimsy texture. 

Enquiries in several directions enable rae to add some infor- 
mation respecting the manufacture of Woollens. 

It appears that a mill, a fulling mill I presume, was erected at 
Rowley, Mass., as early as IG-to, but machinery for carding, 
spinning, and weaving was of a much later date. Carding ma- 
chines were introduced into this country about 1794, — into 
New Ipswich in 1801, and probably soon after into this town. 
They had then been known in England twenty or thirty years. 
Some of the first carding machinery used in this country was 
shipped from England, as hardware, being exported contrary to 
the laws in force there. See Bulletin of Wool Manufacturers, 
April-June, 1873, page 193. Article by S. B. 

T. Clapp, Agt., Pontoosuc Woollen Mill, Pittsfield, Mass., 
writes under date of October 9th, that Arthur Schofield started 
his first carding machine there in 1801; — that the first broad- 
cloth made in this country was made by him, in that town, in 
1804, — and that " in 1808 Schofield manufactured thirteen yards 
of black broadcloth, which was presented to President Madison, 
from which his inaugural suit was made. Fine merino sheep 
were introduced about this time into this toMu, and Schofield 
was able to select wool enough to make this single piece, and 
President Madison Avas the first President who Avas inaugurated 
in American broadcloth." 

An extended, and very interesting, article on the subject, ap- 
pears in the Boston Commercial Bulletin, of Nov. 15th, (as these 
sheets are passing through the press), which states that Arthur 



JAFFREY CEXTEXNIAL. 55 

and John Schofield came to this country from England in 1798, 
and took up their residence in Charlestown, — that after look- 
ing around a few weeks they determined to make a start in the 
manufacture of wollen cloth by hand, — that John built the first 
machinery himself, and having completed " a hand loom, spin- 
ning jenny, &c., on the 28th of October he sold the first product 
of this loom, 2^ yards of broadcloth [?] for £16-16s., and 20 
yards of mixed broadcloth for £12;" — that they removed to 
Newburyport in that year, for the purpose of starting a factory 
with improved machinery, and built a carding machine, Avhich 
Avas first put together in a room in Lord Timothy Dexter's sta- 
ble, and then operated by hand, for the purpose of showino- its 
operation. " This was in the year 1794, and was the first card- 
ing machine for avooI made in the United States ; and at this 
place were made the first spinning rolls carded by machinery." 

A factory was started by them, and others, in Byfield, in 1795. 
A single carding machine and two double ones were placed in it. 
" A coarse kind of flannel called baize " was woven. What oth- 
er cloth was manufactured is not stated. 

They established a factory at Montville, in Conn., about 1798. 

It appears further that in 1801, Arthur, having removed to 
Pittsfield, had a car ding_ machine there, — advertised for wool to 
card, — and built carding machines for other 2:»ersons. 

It is then stated, " The first broadcloth made by Arthur 
Schofield after his arrival in Pittsfield was in 1804. The cloth 
was a gray mixed, and when finished, was shoA\'n to different 
merchants, and offered for sale but could find no purrhasors in 
the village. A few weeks subsequently, Josiah Bissell, a lead- 
ing merchant in town, made a voyage to New York, for the pur- 
pose of buying goods, and brought home two pieces of Scho- 
field's cloths, which was purchased for the foreign article. Scho 
field was sent for to test the quality, and soon exhibited to the 
merchant his private marks on the same cloth which he had be- 
fore rejected." 

Then comes the statement respecting the manufacture of broad- 
cloth in 1808, which President Madison wore wlien inauo-urated. 

Considering all these statements the reasonable conclusion ap- 
pears to be, that the first broadcloth manufactured in this coun- 



56 JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

try was made in 1804, by Arthur Schofield, as stated by Mr. 
Clapp. It seems improbable that the cloth manufactured in 
Charlestown in 1794 could have been broadcloth. 

At the period of which I speak, wool was carded partly by 
hand, but the carding machines generally turned out the rolls, 
which were spun upon the domestic great Avheel, and woven in 
the loom, like the cotton, and then fulled and dressed by the 
clothier. 

The great wheel and the loom have disappeared before their 
gigantic competitors ; and the linen wheel, which spun the flax, — 
humble little machine, — has gone along with its larger compan- 
ions, although large linen manufactures have not succeeded in 
establishing themselves here to any great extent. — The prepa- 
ration of the ground, the seed and the sowing, — the pulling, 
rotting, breaking, swingling and hatchelling of the flax, — with 
the spinning and weaving superadded, — involved too great an 
amount of labor for a successful competition with the foreign 
manufactui'er, as soon as the profit from other branches enabled 
the farmer to purchase the foreign article, manufactured where 
labor is so much cheaper. — Besides, the manufacture of cot- 
ton cloth, by machinery, reduced the cost* of that, so that it su- 
perseded the use of linen, in a very great degree. 



JAFFREY CEXTEXXIAL. 57 

Resonant cheers were given as Boston " men of high, degree " 
filed in at 11.30 a. m., and took seats upon the platform after a 
pertinent introduction by President Cutter. The party included 
Mayor Henry L. Pierce, Alderman L. R. Cutter, (chairman of 
the board who bore the visitors' expenses), Gibson, Brown and 
Sayward ; John A. Haven, president, and Nathaniel J. Bradlee, 
ex-president of Cochituate Water Board ; Alfred T. Turner, 
auditor of accounts ; Joseph Davis, city surveyor ; H. A. Blood, 
Superintendent of the Boston, Clinton & Fitchburg Railroad ; 
President HoAve of the Bedford & Taunton Railroad, and foiu- 
companionable reporters representing the Boston Post, News^ 
Globe and Adccrtiser. 

The President then said : — The breezes that plav around 
old Monadnock, so like the elixer of life to the weary wander- 
er, have called to us, among many others, a lady noted for her 
vocal powers. She has kindly consented to favor us with a 
song. I now introduce to this audience, the sweet songstress 
from the " Old Bay State," 

MRS. ANNA GRANGER DOW. 

Mrs. DoAV then sang " The Heavens are Telling," with telling 
effect. 

The President then introduced the Rea'. Ruft's Case, who 
read 

A P O E M , 

BY MISS MARY BEETLE FOX, OF JAFFKEY, N. H. 

A hundred times has Autumn seen 

His forest branches stripped and bare ; 
A hundred times, when winds blew keen, 

White Winter's snows have tilled the air; 
A hundred times Spring's magic wiles, » 

Have clothed with green the hillsides brown; 
And now the last fair summer smiles 

That rounds the century of our Town. 

Yon mountain calls to us to-day, 

And draws us with persuasive voice, 
" This is your Town's memorial day, 

M)' children, keep it and rejoice : 
While waving tree, and rock, and hill. 

With silent voices manifold. 



58 JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

Greet those who dwell among them slill. 
And those who knew them well of old." 

" Come, stand, as on my breezy height, 

And view the backward-swetiping past, 
Then read your own deeds in the light 

The lives of others on them cast ; 
And let old memories stir your hearts, 

Like breezes whispering through my pines. 
Till the unbidden tear-drop starts. 

To read time's half-eftaced lines." 

And gladly we that call obey. 

And gladly do we gather here, 
Turning our faces toward that way 

Whence shall the past's dim forms appear. 
But who can lift witli steady hand 

That misty curtain hanging low, 
Shrouding the half-forgotten land, 

That far, dim land of long ago? 

Not one among us here can see 

So far adown the winding way. 
And say, " I do remember me 

What was on our Town's natal day ; 
When people cried, ' God save the King,' 

Though freedom's pulses stirred their breast; 
Though swelled the seed about to spring 

Of our great nation of the West." 

A stalwart band of men were they. 

The early settlers of our Town, 
Loud rang their axes day by day. 

That hewed the forest monarchs down. 
• Men not afraid of honest toil, 

They sought the wilds a home to win. 
And gladly from the virgin soil 

Gathered their harvest treasures in. 

They built them houses large and plain, 

Where clustered their life's richest jojs; 
W^here round them rose a numerous train 

Of healthy, happy girls and boys. 
That children's minds have need of food, 

That they may grow, full well they knew. 
And built the district school-house rude. 

Wherein rich fruit.« of knowledge grew. 

They felt the goodness of the Lord. 

Whose hand had led them all their days. 
And gladly built with one accord, 

A house where they his name might praise. 
Here still that ancient building stands. 

Scarce changed in outward form appears. 
Unharmed by the destructive hands. 

Of near a century's changeful years. 

'Twas when they raised that frame-work strong. 
One fair June morning, calm iuid still, 



JAFFKEY CENTENNIAL. 59 

They heard, — or fancy led them Avrong, — 

The far-ofTguns at Bunker Hill; 
Whence rose that patriotic wave 

That o'er the hind impetuous swept, 
Waking in hearts of all the brave 

The love of freedom that had slept. 

Quickly our fathers stirred them then ; 

They left their homes, and took the gun, 
And bore their pai't, as valiant men. 

In that long strife that freedom won. 
Then with " clear shining after rain," 

The sun of peace dispersed their fears, 
And in their quiet homes again. 

Passed on their uneventful years. 

Where are they now ? The bell that swings 

In yon old tower the tale doth tell, 
Whene'er with solemn tone it rings 

Some parted soul a funeral knell; 
Each to the grave has journeyed on, 

There each in lasting quiet sleeps, 
The while his white memorial stone 

The door of his low dwelling keeps. 

In yonder " city on the hill " 

The blooming sod above their breasts. 
Where all is peaceful, calm, and still, 

Their pastor with his people rests. 
Life held him here a hundred years. 

And kept him from his heavenly crown, 
Till weary with its griefs and fears. 

He laid the heavy burden down. 

0, friends, who seek in vain to-day, 

Some long-remembered, well-known face. 
Perchance ye on yon marbles may 

An answer to your questions trace. 
For sleep our ftithers not alone. 

Full many of their children too. 
Have crossed life's boundary, one by one, 

And paid the debt to nature due. 

There rest our sons in hallowed graves. 

Who fell 'neath war's red, cruel hand ; 
Who gave their brave young lives to save, 

From traitor's foul designs our land. 
O honored sires ! O household dead, 

O soldiers true, sleep calm and sound ! 
Life bears us on with steady tread, 

On to the rest that ye have found. 

Full well we know that this, our town. 

Has little worth in stranger's eyes. 
We love it, for it is our own. 

And holds us by a thousand ties. 
Here peace and plenty mark our lot. 

Now, e'en as in " the good old time," 



60 JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 



And Change and Progress question not 
To lay on us their hands sublime. 

N'er entered in our father's dreams, 

Some changes that the years have wrought ; 
Our locomotives rush and scream, 

A fearsome thing they would have thought. 
No prophecy the housewife's wheel 

Sung to them of the jarring looms, 
That ply their giant frames of steel, 

In our tall factory's many rooms. 

Our merry streams, that down the hills 

Go leaping on their sea-ward way, 
Are caught and held by busy mills, 

Whom, willing subjects, they obey; 
There great stones crush the yellow corn, 

There clanging saws harsh tumult make. 
Where trees put oil' their forest form. 

And shapes for our convenience take. 

Here nature's ever open book 

Displays its pictured pages too. 
Showing to all who choose to look. 

Many a goodly pleasant view. 
No lack of beauty, rugged hill 

And rock-strewn field have need to own. 
When o'er them Summer's hand of skill, 

A drapery of green has thrown. 

Sweet is the blooming orchard's breath. 

Rich glow their boughs through Autumn's care; 
Pleasant their shadowy trees, beneath 

The dwellings, scattered here and there. 
Sunny the pastures, sloping down 

To grassy meadows, cool and low ; 
Grand the old woods, whose columns brown 

The golden sunshine sets aglow. 

Our winding x'iver brightly gleams 

'Mid green, low banks its waters lave : 
And one clear, flowing mountain stream, 

Holds gifts of healing in its wave. 
Our ponds, like fretted silver shields, 

Dropped by some fabled gods of old. 
When worsted on celestial fields, — 

The woods, with leafy arms, enfold. 

There the sAveet water-lily lies. 

And in the wave her beauty sees ; 
There many a timid, wild bird flies. 

And sings in the encircling trees. 
Near them, the pink Azalea breathes 

Her sweetness on June's balmy air ; 
And there the glossy Laurel wreathes 

Her virgin blossoms, pale and fair. 

But what, Monadnock, shall we say 
Of thee, thou dear to every heart 



JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 61 

That knew thee in its chikihuod's day, 

Ere life from nature grew apart? 
Thy silent eloquence, is fraught 

With meanings deep, and grandly true, 
Uncouciously, our young liearts caught 

And held them, better than we knew. 

For always in our later years. 

However far our footsteps roam, 
Our mountain clear to sight appears, ' 

When fancy paints our early home. 
Grand mays't thou seem to stranger's eyes, 

And strangers tongues tliy praises sing; 
We hold thee in our memories, 

And love thee like a human thing. 

God of our fathers, unto Thee 

With humble gratitude, to-day, 
We bow the reverential knee ; 

And at Thy throne our homage pay. 
We pray Thee, bless our native Town, 

From henceforth, as Thou hast of old ; 
And sliovver upon lier children down, 

Thv mercies, great and manifold. 

Though, when the coming century's years 

Have passed, a swift and cliangeful train, 
Not one of all wlio gather liere. 

Shall on the shores of Time remain ; 
May we in Thine own blessed land. 

Where life and joy shall never cease. 
Beneath Thy trees of healing stand, 

And walk upon Thy hills of peace. 



HYMN OF GRATITUDE. 

UY MISS ERMINA C. CAMPBELL. 

Sung by the Choir. 
We come, God, a happy throng, With hearts that thrill with solemn 



Our grateful hearts to raise. 
With glad accord, in swelling song. 
In sweetest notes of praise. 

From out thy boundless store, God ! 

An hundred years have shed • 
Their gift* on us who breathe to-day, 

And on the slei'ping dead. 



awe. 
We pause upon our way. 
To view once more the shrouded Past, 
And greet the new-born day. 

The piean of an hundred years 

Is echoing in each heart; 
Its grandly sweet and solemn strains 
1 Will nevermore depart. 
How countless are the fragrant j 

thoughts 1 We come, God ! to render thanks. 

Which cluster round those years ! l Our grateful hearts to raise, 
What toiling hosts have shared their | With fervent homage and with awe, 
joys. In sweetest songs of praise. 

Their thronging hopes and fears. 



62 JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

President Cutter "took the floor" for a moment and said : — 
Lndies and Gentlemen : — As oiu' friends from Boston can re- 
main with us only a short time, we propose to defer dinner until 
half past one, therefore i now introduce to you C. A. Parks, 
Esq., of East Jaffrey, as Toastmaster of the day. 

TOASTM ASTER PARK'S REMARKS. 

Mr. F resident, Ladies and Geallemen ; Fellow Citizens of JaJ- 
fretj : — 1 am grateful for the honor you have conferred upon me 
in your selection of a Master for your " Centennial feast." It is 
an office the duties of which will afford me much pleasure and 
impose upon me little labor, for 1 regard it as my special prov- 
ince not to attempt any speech myself today, but simply to re- 
introduce to you some of your old friends and ac ^uaintances 
whose voices were familiar in the years past, and whose count- 
enances you welcome here, where you have gathered in one 
common brotherhood to celebrate the one hundredth natal day 
of youi" mother town. 

1 am glad that i am privileged, thi-ough a right of adoption by 
J atirey, to be present on this occasion and to participate in these 
exercises by proposing a few sentiments of an appropriate char- 
acter for your consideration ; and 1 hope from the responses to 
which we may listen, we shall be able to gather much of profit- 
able entertainment, and that in the Avords of those whom Jaffrey 
is happy to remember and honor on this day, there will come to 
us all many fruitful lessons respectmg the reminiscences of the 
past and many golden hopes for the future. 

We are honored today by Boston in the presence here of her 
Mayor and her Board of Aldermen, a body of gentlemen whose 
position distinguishes them as Boston's most worthy representa- 
tives. A sentiment has been selected for the Honorable Mayor, 
suggestive not only of the geographical proximity of ISew Hamp- 
shire to the city over which he presides, but also of that honest 
gratitude and pride over Boston's high rank and increasing great- 
ness as a metropolis, in which Jattrcy may be permitted to share 
through those of her sons she has given the great city to enroll 
among her honored names, it is this : '• .Jatfrey enjoys the hon- 



JAFFREY f'ENTEXMAI.. 63 

or of not being entirely outside that circle of which Boston is the 
centre and the ' Hub.' And she is justly proud of the distinc- 
tion which New England's largest city has in the past given to 
many of her sons." I have the honor of presenting to you the 
HoNoKABi-E Henry L. Fiekce, M-iyor of Boston. 

MAYOR PIERCE'S RESPONSE. 

Ladies and Geteeaien : — T did not come up here today to 
address you, or indeed with any desire to do so. In fact I shrink 
from making an address, but I came on the invitation of my 
" friend Alderman Cutter, whom Boston knows and respects, to 
meet with you on this day so interesting to you and all of us. 
The close of a century in the history of the world, the close of 
present century is one of the most interesting and among the 
most eventful of any that have marked the progress of the race. 
When Ave look back and see what has been accomplished in the 
world, and even in this country, and see that during that time 
we have separated from the British croAvn and observe the im- 
provements that have been made, and which affect the welfare of 
the world at large, we must look back upon it with the greatest 
satisfaction. But we must also look forward and hope that the 
century to come will be crowned with equal results. Boston is 
proud of being considered the metropolis of New England, and 
she desires to express her hearty thanks for the many good, 
sound men who have been sent to her from New Hampshire, 
and who have helped increase her prosperity. She hopes she is 
worthy of what New England has made her in the past, and 
she hopes to be worthy of the support of New England in the 
future, and now ladies and gentlemen, I will only say I thank 
you all and thank my friend the son of Jaffrey, the Alderman, 
for the great pleasure he has given me in inviting us to be 
present on this occasion. 

Skntimext No 2 : — " We welcome those who having gone 
from \is have aided in sustaining the charater of the noble sons of 
New Hampshire for integrity, enterprise and success in busi- 
ness, in every part of our land." Having read the above senti- 
ment, the 'J'oastmaster introduced the next speaker: — 



64 ■ JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

I have the pleasure of presenting to you as a respondent to 
this sentiment a gentleman of Avhom nothing need be said by me. 
He his known to you all. His native town is Jaffrey, where he 
is always warmly welcomed. In Boston where he has resided 
for a number of years, he is noted as a gentleman eminently 
sviccessful in business and one whom his adopted city has de- 
lighted to honor for his superior ability and sterling integrity. 
I refer to the Hon. Leonard R. C'iitter, Chairman of the Board 
of Aldermen of Boston. 

ALDER.MAN CI^TTER'S RESPONSE. 

You do me great honor, Mr. President, in asking me to re- 
spond to the sentiment just read. I sincerely regret that I am 
not better qualified to do justice to the subject. I can truly say 
that whatever of success has attended the efforts of those sons 
of New Hampshire who have sought fame or fortune in other 
States and other countries has been largely due to the honorable 
distinction in which their birth-place is held. The old-fashioned 
standard of morality and integrity has been so nobly maintained by 
those who have remained at home, that the wanderers carry with 
them a certificate of good character in the name of the State from 
which they hail, and that goes a great way toward assuring them 
success even among the Philistines. While our State has not, 
for obvious reasons, increased so rapidly in wealth and popula- 
tion during the last fifty years as some other sections ol the 
countiy, it certainly has not fallen behind any section in those 
things which tend to a higher state of civilization, good govern- 
ment and right living ; and in the mean time it has been furn- 
ishing in larger proportions, I believe, than any other New Eng- 
land State, the intelligent enterprise which has, as it were, anni- 
hilated time and distance and enabled us to do our missionary 
work in the far West, and at the same time keep good hours at 
home. There is one advatage, Mr. President, which we who go 
away from home have over those who stay, and that is the plea- 



JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 65 

sure of letiu'iiiug ; and we also acquire a keener appreciation of 
the natural beauties of our native place. Although I spent my 
youth here in the shadow of Old Monadnock, I never knew or 
imagined the grandeur of the scenery I was daily looking upon 
until I had an opportunity of comparing it with other places. 
There is something enobling in the presence of this scenery be- 
yond the power of any works of man. And, living in these Pa- 
cific llailroad times, it is a sort of satisfaction to reflect that the 
works of nature here are upon such a gigantic scale that the pro- 
faning hands of railroad contractors are almost powerless against 
them. But, Mr. President, the occasion on which we have met 
brings up other scenes and other events than those which are mere- 
ly amusing or ridiculous. We have, this day, together, turned 
our eyes back upon the places that kncAV us in our infancy and 
youth. To us New Hampshire presents something other than 
her granite hills : yes, sir, and something more interesting even 
than the grassy vales or the pearly brooks, or the silvery water 
sheets, that are associated Avith the past time of our early days. 
Dearer to us still than the imagery of those bright scenes is the 
memory of the friends that we first loved ; those who luirtured 
us in infancy, who guided us in youth, who oj)ened to us the av- 
eniies of knowledge, who warned us of the miseries of vice, and 
presented to us the indiu^ements of virtue, and who made us what 
we are. Perhaps they still live to greet otu" occasional returns 
to the paternal home ; or, perhaps we have been called to com- 
mit them to the silent bosom of earth. Be that as it may, our 
relation to them is sacred, and while the poAver of thought shall 
endure, the memory of their kindness will abide. In conclusion, 
Mr. President, I give you as a sentiment (and I do not expect 
any one to respond to it unless the Old Man of the Mountain 
should happen to be present), " The Hills of NeAv Hampshire. 
If Napoleon could incite his soldiers to greater deeds of valor by 
the thought that forty centuries looked down upon them from 
the pyramids, how much greater should be the inspiration and 
the achievement of the sons of New Hampshire from the thought 
that the centi;ries from the begining of time, looked down upon 
them from their native hills." 



66 .lAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

Sentiment Xo. 3. — "The day we celebrate/' 

Response by Rev. Moses T. Runnels, of Sanbornton, X. H. 

Mr. President, Sons, Daughters and Citizens of Jaffretj: — I 
confess to a strong, inherent partiality for Centennial days, like 
this. The Centennial celebration of old Peterborough awakened 
ray childish enthusiasm, at the age of nine years, and I have 
since labored hard, as a resident of those places, to secure simi- 
lar centennials at Orford in 1865, and at Sanbornton in 1871. 
But this, Mr. Chaiinnan, is the first Centennial Day I have ever 
really celebrated •' con amore." For I do love old Jaffrey, having 
claimed a residence here for twenty-five years from infancy. 
I gazed upon that noble mountain, from under the old pine tree 
on the hill- top of my grandfather's farm, as one of my earliest 
remembered acts ; and, having found it the chief outward attrac- 
tion of my home the last eight years, that I could there view this 
same Grand Monadnock from garden walk or study window, at 
the distance of GO miles, it is not strange that the promptings 
of my heart would not suffer me to be absent from this place to- 
day ; — that neither the most pressing engagements at home, 
nor yet the appalling announcement that I might be called upon 
for a speech, could deter me from this family gathering of the 
sons and daughters of Jaffrey. 

As we have listened, with so much interest, to the able histor- 
ical address, it has been your privilege and mine, brothers and 
sisters, almost to exclaim with Virgil's hero, " Quorum jnirsfair 
-^" of which I was a part," — our individual life, — our vivid 
remembrance, sweeping back, as it does in my own case, over 
two fifths of the century now passed. And I can tell you, sir, 
from my experience here today, as compared with that on other 
similar occasions, it makes a difference whether a man engages 
in a celebration like this, as a mere spectator, or as an actor in 
the scene ; — as a temporary resident, or as a son of the town whose 
festivities he enjoys. And while these rare entertainments for 
mind and hod\j (as I was about to say, expecting to speak after 
dinner) have been spread before us, and 1 have felt that I might 
turn to this presiding officer — or to others of the committee of 
arrangements, — and say to each, ' you and I, sir, were playmates 



JAFI'KEY CENTENNIAL. 67 

tog-cthcr;' or might add to many others in this vast assembly, 
' with ijou, your brothers, or your sons I sported in artless child- 
hood ;' ' with yon, \o\\x sisters or your daughters, I attended school 
in the happy days of youth ;' 'your children I remember as among 
my favorite pupils in that old red school-house under the hill ;' 
I can assure you, Mr. President and gentlemen, that I have found 
myself all the more ready to rise and at least repeat the senti- 
ment you have so kindly given me, if I did not respond to it, 
"The Day icc Celebrate." 

And what do we mean by ' the day we celebrate' .'' The actu- 
al day of incorporation as it was ? Or this glorious day as it is ? 
Perhaps we ought to claim that we are " celebidting" both days; 
the day that was, and the day that is. What i/ifif. day was, Ave 
can not know beyond what the distinguished orator of today 
has told us. It is like our birthdays in this regard; with the 
important difference that we were not any of us there at that time 
to sec ! Each one's imagination must help him to picture a scene 
in Jaffrey 100 years ago ; — and as the beautiful banner we have 
seen borne before us today reminds us that Jaffrey was incorpo- 
rated "^?<o-//s/ 77, 1773,''^ I have thought that the few scat- 
tered settlers then in town might have come together about 
three days afterwards, on the day exacthj corresponding with 
this, to hold a sort of congratulatory meeting ! The news of the 
" act " of incorporation has just reached them ! Thev have 
gathered in their rough suits of skins or home-spun from their 
scattered log cabins, perhaps to some central cabin near this 
spot. From how different scenes, and in what dissimilar appar- 
el have we assembled, at our congratulatory meeting ! They 
came, on foot, or on horse back, at the rate of two miles an hoiu-, 
through pathless forests or guided by scarred and jiunping over 
fallen trees. fVc have come in oxw light pleasure wagons at the 
speed of six or eight miles an hour, or, upon the wings of steam 
at the rate of 500 hundi'ed miles per day ! 

Those strong minded fathers, as they passed their- hearty con- 
gratulations on the incorporation of their town, may also have 
spoken together of those ominous mutterings of an approaching 
revolution of which they were hearing from week to Aveek, from 
the then distant city of Boston, — perhaps of the late tea-party 



68 JAFFEEY CENTENNIAL. 

there. We, their descendants, if we think of any centennial be- 
sides our own, are perhaps letting our thoughts go forward to 
that grandest of all the days in our nation's history, if God per- 
mit, the approaching hundredth anniversary of the Declaration 
of her Independence. And of what surprising diirngcs are we 
thus reminded, as occurring between these " days we celebrate," 
in the nation, in the town and in social life ! 

But on many other accounts is this " day we celebrate " inter- 
estina; and valuable to us all. 

It affords an opportunity for the renewal oi old ussociafiu/is, — 
the fondest and dearest of our earthly lives, in those scenes and 
times of our earliest recollection when we could speak of joys 
unmingled with sorrow. Who of us does not hasten to recall 
the loves and friendships of those early days, so pure — so pro- 
ductive of a happy state — so free from the alloy of selfishness ! 

For how many reunions of luter friends, long sejDarated from 
each other, does this day also afford the glad occasion. It would 
seem as if the orbits of our lives, having run for many years at 
a distance from and out of sio-ht of each other, were now brouoht 
into a mutual and delightful juxta-position ; or, like vessels at 
sea, bound on the same voyage, after having, in separation, out- 
ridden many of the storms of life, we are today permitted to 
course for a few hours within " speaking" distance of each oth- 
er, — to compare notes on all the way in which a kind Provi- 
dence has led us, each in our several spheres of duty, — to re- 
joice in each other's prosperity, — to sympathize with each oth- 
er's griefs. 

And this reminds us, again, of the dear ones " not lost" as Ave 
fondly hope, " but gone before," with whom we formerly " took 
sweet counsel together, and walked," it may be, " to the house 
of God in company." Does it not seem, my friends, as though 
their spirits, if aught on earth can afford them happiness, might 
even now be the unseen witnesses of this joyful re-union i At 
least, are not their countenances, their loved or venerated forms, 
their winning voices all fresh in our recollections today ] Is not 
our communion with them almost as palpable and as marked as 
that \\'\t\\ one another • 



JAFIKEY CENTEXMAT,. (39 

Once more " the day we celebrate" bespeaks our gical w- 
dchtfjlneas to the ancestral fathers and guardians of the town in 
all previous years. 

AVhat this age is especially deficient in, is a respect for the 
past. But the celebration of this day is a practical application 
of the noble sentiment of Burke, — " Those who do not treasure 
up the memory of their ancestors, do not deserve to be remem- 
bered by posterity;" — though by no means exposing us to the 
quaint sarcasm of Sir Thomas Overbury, that "those who rest 
their chi'iin to cons'nhrdtion on the merit of their ancestry instead 
of their own individual worth, are like a hill of potatoes, — the 
best portion is under ground." 

And how, in this connection, did time permit, avouIcI I love 
to pay my humble tribute to the fathers of Jaffrey, whose very 
images are now so vividly before me, as having been upon the 
stage. a third or half a century ago ! How many honored names 
do I recall ! The Ainsworths, the Parkers, the Spauldings, the 
Gilmores and the Howes ; the Cutters, the Baileys,- the Law- 
rences and the Em(>rys ; or in the other part of the town where 
I lived, the Prescotts, the Spoffords, and the Joslins ; the Pierces, 
the Bacons, the Mowers, and many others all over town who might 
be mentioned ; with others still who hardly yet have passed 
from our view ; and especially that prince among New Hamp- 
shire farmers,* — that prince among the benevolent benefactors 
of the town and the State at large, to whom you and 1, Mr. 
Chairman, feel ourselves personally indebted for those habits of 
industry and that spirit of energy and enterprise which he ear- 
Iv instilled within us, tempered ever with the most excellent 
counsels and confirmed by a most laudable example. 

In view of all these noble men and women too, who have giv- 
en character to the Jaffrey of the past, moulding her institutions, 
establishing her educational and religious privileges and adorn- 
ing her homes, we can only exclaim, what a rich legacy is here ! 
What cumulative influences and forces for good have come down 
to us from the record of the last centiu-y ! How should this 



*The Hon. John C'onant. who. from feeble healtli, was unable to be pres- 
ent. 



TO JAFFUEY CENTENNIAL. 

stimulate our gratitude for what the fathers and the mothers 
wert and for what they acamip/is/icd in oui- behalf! And how 
zealous should we be to transmit what we have received, unim- 
paired, to those who shall come after us. 

For, while to thn aged, and those who review the past, the 
"■ day we celebrate " is so full of rich satisfaction, with how 
much of value is it also freighted to the young — even to these 
little children who have formed, in many respects, the most at- 
tractive part of our procession today ! How much useful infor- 
mation may they gain from the day itself, its teachings and its 
suggestions ! How much, otherwise unknown, may they learn, 
even respecting the fathers themselves. What insight will be 
afforded them into the habits of life and social ways of periods 
long past ! And when they reflect upon the changes since ef- 
fected, — the new discoveries and inventions, — the improve- 
ments in agricultural and mechanic arts and implements, — the 
increase of books and other appliances for obtaining and diffus- 
ing knowledge, — the improved facilities for travel and inter- 
communication, — the bringing together of the nations, and the 
progress and elevation of mankind, — all of which have been lit- 
erally crowded into the space of the hundred years now closing ; 
let them be encouraged to graft upon the moral and religious 
principles the sterling virtues, the heroic qualities of mind and 
heart which belonged to the fathers in the century past, — to 
gicft upon these, I say, all that is inspiring, hopeful, and health- 
fully progressive in the new century of our local history now 
commencing. 

Which leads me to add very briefly in conclusion ; "the day we 
celebrate " is especially valuable to the town lihtoi'ian. I rejoice 
that old Jaffi'ey has one from whom we are to hear on this occa- 
sion. This day may well afford to him a fresh neiiclcus, — a new 
starting point, as it Avere ; and the success of our historical oi-a- 
tor today may give. him waw aid, impulse and encouragement to 
press forward in his noble work. Many are the difficulties 
which beset the path of the town historian. Great the apathy 
which broods over many minds ; surprising the iudiiference 
which many manifest as to all, or aught that pertains to the past 



JAI'FTil'.Y CE>"TEXNTAT>. 71 

history of those locahties — of those famihes, ev,en, in which 
they themselves should naturally take the deepest interest. The 
dark clouds of mystery and uncertainty which are found hang- 
ing over the facts and records of the past are also quite disheart- 
ening at times : but these will usually be found lifting and un- 
veiling themselves before the patient persevering historian, as 
he plods along, and often from the most imexpected sources and 
in ways before unthought of. The satisfaction and reward (not 
pecuniary) of the local historian's work are therefore very great. 
Its importance cannot be over estimated.- It must be done 
quickly or it will never be accomplished ; and Avhen oiice done 
and well done, it is done for ever ! Let facts, therefore, respect- 
ing the. men and the things which ever belonged to this good old 
town be industriously collected and properly arranged. Let the 
genealogies of the old families be traced out, even into other 
towns and other parts of the country, so f;\r as possible, for thxis, 
much may be learned throwing light upon the history of the 
town itself. It will thus be known what an agsfregate amount 
of influence the town has really exerted in building u]) other 
communities and moulding society in other localities. The grati- 
fication of all concerned will be great and ever increasing as 
years and generations in the future roll aAvay ; posterity will ap- 
prove the sayings and the doings of the faithful annalist. The 
stores of actual knoAvledge shall be increased ; different parts of 
our country shall bo more effectually cemented together ; man- 
kind shall be elevated, and the great God who has "been our 
dwelling place in all generations " shall Himself be glorified. 

Sentimext No. 4. — " Jaffrey : Her Scenes and her Scene- 
ry." Response by Rev. J. M. H. Smith, of East .TafFrey. 

An hour having been spent in social intercourse, and distribut- 
ing among the many from the inexhaustible store of ])rovisi()ns 
until all were satisfied, the Tent Programme was r(\sumed by 
the band's playing the "Ella Polka," after which Prof. George 
W. Foster sang a taking ballad — 

" l")iniia forfret yer niither. Sandie," 
with brilliant succc>ss, Avhen Tostmaster Parks ])roc(H'ded to say ; 



irZ JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

Liidies (Dul GcnfJcmcn : — After having partaken of the inn fe- 
rial beiujils so bountifully provided for the inner man on this oc- 
casion, it is proposed that we resume again that ot\\idx JhiU bo'gan 
before dinner, to wit: " The feast of reason and the flow of soul." 

Sentiment No. 5. — "The Orator of the day. — We have hith- 
erto been proud of his name and reputation as one of the great 
lights of the legal profession ; he has today placed us under in- 
finite obligation for his interesting and eloquent address." Hon. 
Joel Parker rose and expressing his gratitude for the honor be- 
stowed upon him, said that another speech would not be expect- 
ed from him today. He asked leave to place in the hands of the 
Toastmaster the following Sentiment: — "The inhabitants of Jaf- 
frey — Steadfast in their principles — Untiring in their Indus- 
try." 

Sentiment No. 6. — " Our Common Schools." 
Response by Rev. D. N. Goodrich, Sup't School Committee, 
Jaffrey, Avho said that while he need riot remind a New Eng- 
land audience how highly ttie Fatheks valued common school 
education, how they built the school-house close by the meeting- 
house to show, that in their opinion, religion and education 
should go hand in hand, he would mention some facts which in- 
dicat(^ that the people of this generation value these interests 
just as highly as their fathers did, and are disposed to guard 
them with a jealous care. Among other things, the speaker re- 
ferred to the large number of schools in the town ; the amount 
of money expended for their support, the average expense for 
each scholar being |5,25 and in some districts $16,45 ; the whole 
number of scholars being 3(30. He mentioned also the fact that 
the schools were so frequently visited by the people in the vari- 
ous districts ; that so much pains is taken to procure good teach- 
ers ; that the teachers employed have generally been so well 
qualified, and that so many of them have received a large part ' 
of their instruction in our schools. In conchision the speaker 
thought the facts of the case and the views of the people might 
be expressed by offering the sentiments in the following form : 
— " Our Common School System a priceless legacy received from 



JAFFKEY ( EMF,>'>1AL. iu 

the fathers, perfected hy the wisdom and experience of succes- 
sive generations, and supported by the intelligent patriotism of 
our people ; our teachers thoroughly competent, efficient, and 
devoted to their- noble work; our school officers, assiduous; 
ly guarding the precious interests committed to their charge ; 
our scholars, the good material out of which intelligent, useful, 
and honorable niend)ers of society are to be made." 

Sentimf:nt No. 7. — " East Jaft'rey Cornet Band : They may 
write ' Excelsior' on their escutcheons." Music: " Lepitit Pol- 
ka." 

J^ENTiMEiNT. No. 8. — " The Mothers and the Daughters ; the 
Joy and Sunshine of our Homes and the Pride of the Century." 

Response by A. S. Scott, Esc|., of Peterboro', N. H. 

Mr. Presitlent, L'idies and Gentlemen ; — When 1 accidental- 
ly read the a}inouncement in our village newspaper by ypur Jaf- 
frey correspondent, that I had been invited to respond on this 
occasion to. a sentiment to the Ladies of Jaffrey, and had accept- 
ed the invitation, it A\'as to me a matter of surprise, because it 
seemed to me more fitting that to one of the sons of these Jaf- 
frey mothers, or one of the husbands or suitors of these fair Jaf- 
frey daughters should have been assigned the privilege to speak 
to a sentiment so suggestive of all the sweet and dear remem- 
brances that cluster around your old family homes among your 
hills. 

Then, I should be c^xcused from speaking here today, because 
of the acknowledged ability of these ladies, if this assembly could 
be resolved into a tea-party and they should once get their tongues 
loose, to speak for themselves. 

But mothers and daughters of Jaffrey, discarding all empty 
compliments and fiattery, so repugnant to your good sense, you 
will permit me to say that in these old family homes among 
these hills, presided over Avith such matronly dignity by the 
mothers, and made sunny and happy by the genial presence and 
affectionate smiles of the daughters, has been nurtiu'ed all that 
is good and memorable and great in the history of the century 
that has passed. 



(4 JAIKKEV CENTENNIAL. 

For these New England homes watched over by pious and de- 
voted mothers are conceded to be the best manufactories of men. 
— But there is now very serious danger that this Avork of grow- 
ing and training men must cease for lack of material. No one 
call have failed to observe the difference in the size of the fami- 
lies of the early mothers and the families of the present day. 
The former luimbered from six to sixteen', and the latt(u- from 
one to four. 

In yoiu" school districts which were formerly densely popula- 
ted with scores of ruddy boys and girls, you now are indebted to 
the Irish emigrants for chikbren enough to make a school. 

One of yoiu- early settlers, who, on his bridal tour, about a 
centiuy ago, brought his wife to a log cabin in the wilderness in 
an ox cart, with her spinning wheel and other marriage outfit, 
raised in this cabin eleven childi'en. 

xVnd these large families were beehives of industry and no 
drones were allowed in the hive. Father, mother, sons and 
daughters worked and sometimes more than ten hours each day. 

There is not an honored descendant of these families here to- 
day who does not in all sincerity ac-knowledge himself more in- 
debted for such measure of honor and success as has attended 
him on life's battle field, to the lessons and habits of industry 
and frugality, inculcated in the ohl home than to all other caus- 
• es and influences combined. 

John Conant, when, with matchless industry, perseAcrance 
and economy, he was laying the foundations of that wealth which 
has enabled him to endow your High School, a Seminary and an 
Agricultiu-al College so munificently, gaining for himself an hon- 
ored and illustrious name among the benefactors of his race, 
was largely indebted to the industry and frugality of his A^ife. 

There is not a good thing that marks your progress during the 
century, — a school, a chiu'ch, a lil)rary, or a reform, — that has 
not been largely fostered and helped onward by the labors and 
sacrifices of the mothers and daughters. Now, the school -ludsleis 
having mostly gone abroad, almost the entire education of yoiu' 
children is committed to the daughters and no one doid)ts that 
they will be faithful to th(Mr respousil^ility. 



JAFFKKY (JKXTKNMAI.. 75 

The mothers and daughters have not at any time in the cen- 
tury been wanting in the exhibition of an exalted patriotism. 

In the Revohitionar}^ war they bravely sent their husbands to 
the front and remained at home faithful and devoted to their 
families, adding often to the labors of the household the labors 
of the field. 

In the war of the RebL'llion the mother heroicly severed the 
tie that bound her to her son and sent him forth to the ser\ice 
of his country Avith her prayers and benediction, and side by 
side with the recruiting station, organized the Soldiers' Aid So- 
cieties, the springs of the Sanitary Commission, the Good Sa- 
maritan of the war. 

There is not a son of Jaffrey who has come up here from his 
home in another State to revisit the scenes of his childhood and 
live over in imagination his boyhood days, who does not Ijring 
in his heart some tribute of gratitude and respect for the mother 
who bore him, — who cradled him in her arms, — taught his in- 
fant lips to lisp his morning and evening prayer, and, as he 
grew into boyhood, patched his trowsers, washed his face, comb- 
ed his hair and sent him to school on a week day, and bade him 
" mind the master, learn his lesson and l)ring home the medal ;" 
and on Sunday, took him with her to cliurch and made him read 
the Bible and say the catechism ; and later, as he ripened into 
young manhood and manifested a love for learning, with gentle 
persuasion, influence the jiater-fumilms to sell his cow, or yoke of 
oxen, to raise money to send him to college, — then with assidu- 
ous toil carded with her own hands the rolls, spun and dyed the 
tlxfead, and on the old hand-loom, located up in the old attic to 
be out of the way of interruption, wove the fabric and then fash- 
ioned and sewed the suit in which her son entered the Academy 
or College. 

And this is no fancy picture for the man still lives and ^vill 
address you here today who entered Dartmouth College in a suit 
of home-spun manufactured entirely by his mother. 

Many of these mothers still live to grace and lionor this as- 
sembly with their presence, but many have passed away and 
been borne to their resting ])]aces in your village cemetery, and 



Tti JAFFKEY CENTENMAl.. 

to many a son those beautiful lines of C'owper, addressed to his 
mother's picture, have come home with peculiar power. 

"My mother, wheu I learned that thou wast dead, 
Say, wast thou conscious ol" the tears I shed? 
^ Hovered thy spirit over thy sorrowing son, 

Wi'etch even then, life's journey just begun 1 
I heard the bell tolled on tiiy burial day; 
I saw the hearse that bore thee slow away, 
And, turning to my nursery window, drew 
A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu." 

Many a son of Jaffrey has wept a last adieu at the gra\"c; of 
his mother, but her love and affection ^\■ill hallow his latest as 
his earliest memory. 

But I am admonished to close by the consciousness that the 
time of this occasion belongs to your own sons and not to me. 

I give you as a sentiment in closing : — " The Mothers of Jaf- 
frey ; Models of Industry, Piety and Frugality ; — May their 
Daughters emulate their Mothers' A'irtiu's. 

Sentiment No. 9. — "The Clergy of Jaffrey." Response by 
Rev. E. S. Foster, of Winchester, N. H. 

Coming ujdou the platform at the call of the Chairman, Mr. 
F'oster said: — '' Every child, youth, man and woman, every set- 
tlement, society, village, partnership and business, every family, 
tribe, nation, country and government has a history. In the 
life-time of every individual, settlement, country and kingdom, 
there are various epochs of greater or less importance. Jaffrey, 
as a town, has had various epochs, among which are the pioneer, 
agricultural, ministerial, religious, educational, business and me- 
chanical. 

Today, in her history, this Celebration marks the one hun- 
dredth epoch. In the work assigned, I am called to speak for 
the ministerial department in the life of Jaffrey 's hundred years. 

'' The Clergy of Jaffrey." is my subject. Here allow me to 
say, I would that that the work assigned me in this important 
and ever to be remembered occasion, had been given to other 
and abler hands, that the lessons of our life may sink deeper in- 
to the character of Jaffrey 's coming children for devotion and 
consecration, than it is possible for me to impress and inspire. 



JAFFKEY CENTENNIAL. 



But the noble soldier puts on his armor and takes the place 
assigned him ; thus I remark, — First, from a competent person 
I have an extract from the records of Jaffrey, which is as fol- 
lows, viz: — "28 Sept., 1773, Voted £6 La^vful money, to sup- 
port preaching. 26 April, 1874, Voted £6 Lawful money, to 
support the Gospel. 13 April, 1775, Voted £6 Lawful money, 
to support the Gospel. 27 March, 1777, Voted £50 Lawful 
money, to support the Gospel. 26 March, 1778, Voted £100 
Lawful money, to support the Gospel. 10 June, 1778, the 
Committee agreed with Mr. Isaac Allen to supply us. 3 Sept., 
1778, the Committee omit giving Mr. Allen a call for the pres- 
ent. Sept. 3, 1778, Voted £50 for preaching. 11 Nov., 1778, 
Voted to hear Mr. Reed until special meeting. 25 March, 1779, 
Voted £200, to support the Gospel. 1 Nov., 1779, Voted to 
hear Mr. Stevens for all supply this fall. 1 Nov., 1779, Voted 
to have Mr. Colby come by 1st March next. 7 June, 1780, 
Voted to hear Mr. Jewett more on probation, in order to give 
him a call. 29 March, 1781, Voted not to hire Mr. Walker 
this year. 16 August, 1781, Voted to hire Mr. Goodale two 
more Sabbaths. 27 December, 1781, Voted to hear Mr. Ains- 
worth. 8 July, 1782, Voted to give him a call." 

Foremost, longest, and fullest upon the ministerial record of 
Jaffrey, stands the labors of the long to be remembered Pastor — 
Rev. Laban Ainsworth. This ministerial pioneer was born at 
Woodstock, Conn., July 19, 1757. At about 7 years of age^an 
accident resulted in his losing his right arm and hand. He was 
educated and fitted for college under Nathaniel Tisdale, of Leb- 
anon, Conn., — " a man of considerable pedagogical capability, 
and of much petulant eracibility." These last facts modified by 
the last word, are from !Mr. Ainsworth's own language, in reply 
to some questions presented by a friend. Mr. Tisdale fitted him 
for Harvard College, but his father said, "to avoid the Btitish, go 
to Dartmouth in the woods." He entered Dartmouth in 1775, 
and graduated in 1778. He studied Theology with Rev. Ste- 
phen West, D. D., of Stockbridge, Mass., and soon after, 
preached about two years in Spencertown on the Hudson River, 
then served from four to six months as Chaplain in Maj. Mc- 
Kinistry's Corps. 



78 JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

We find from the record that the Chm-ch in JafFrey was or- 
ganized May 18th, 1780, and that a committee from the town 
met Mr. Ainsworth on Commencement Day at Dartmouth, in 
1781, and engaged him to preach; and he began the same sum- 
mer. He was ordained the first minister in the town of JafFrey, 
N. H., December 10th, 1782. 

On December 4th, 1787, he married the daughter of Jonas 
Minot, of Concord, Mass., with whom he lived happily and suc- 
cessfully over fifty years, and labored as the minister of the First 
Congregational Church and Parish of Jaftrey, for over half a 
century. 

On the 11th of January, 1832, he received Rev. Giles Lyman 
as his Colleague ; with whom he lived pleasantly for a number 
of years. He died March 16th, 1808, after a life of an huncbed 
years, and a ministry of about seventy-five years in all. The 
portraits which hang today in the parlor of his old home, are 
excellent representations of him and his wife when they were about 
seventy-five years of age. 

His dress was thoroughly clerical black ; single breasted coat 
and waist coat, black small clothes, black worsted stockings, 
shoes, knee-buckles, and shoe-buckles. In his advanced years, 
his long white hair and his courtly manners, made him a perfect 
representative of his class. As a preacher he was very simple 
in manner and matter ; his voice was remarkably strong, clear 
and sonorus; his enunciation distinct, and his language pure 
Saxon English. In his religious views he was dogmatic and 
radical, and much of a doctrinal preacher, holding to the Cal- 
vinistic Theology, as taught by Dr. Edwards. 

His sermons were seldom if ever written out in full; they 
were on paper, mere briefs, and very few of these remain. The 
only remaining one was here presented to the sight of the assem- 
bly. Its subject was an argument against final restoration. His 
sermons were very short; seldom exceeding 25 minutes. His 
pulpit services consisted of a hymn, a short prayer, reading of 
Scripture, hymn, the long prayer, the sermon and then the ben- 
ediction. 



JAFFRF.Y CENTENNIAL. 79 

His preaching and ministerial labors produced the usual 
amount of conviction and conversion. He must have attended 
about three thousand funerals ; the services of which consisted 
generally of an address to the moiu"ners, with an opening and 
closing prayer. 

A wedding service he opened with prayer, then he gave the 
legal point, and lastly the address to the man and wife. As a 
politician, he was a Federalist, like Washington and Jefferson; 
in a later day he acted with the Whig party. On Fast days he 
usually gave his people something of a political discourse. 

As a friend of education, he usually appeared in most of the 
District Schools during their closing days ; but did not often 
fraternise much with the children and youth of the town. 

As a man and minister, he commanded the respect and esteem 
of all classes. As one of the "Mystic Tie,'''' he received this 
Itnnh-skin, or (here the original lamb-skin received at his initia- 
tion as a Mason was exhibited,) wllite leathern apron, which is 
an emblem of innocence, and a badge, more honorable than the 
star and garter, or any other order that can be conferred on the 
candidate at any time by king, prince, potentate, or any other 
person except a brother Mason. By this lamb-skin he was con- 
tinually reminded of that purity of life and conduct which is es- 
sentially necessary to his gaining admission to the Supreme Tem- 
ple above. Thus, being born when George 2d Avas his King, 
and in the time of Louis 15th, of France, Frederick the Great, 
of Prussia, and Clement 16th, of Rome, his life covered volumes 
of history. 

Severel anecdotes were here related of the worthy divine, 
which extensively stirred the risibilities of the great assembly. 

The next ministerial record, and the first of Jaifrey's born 
sons to the ministry, is that of Rev. Robertson Smiley, born at 
Jaftrey, graduated at Dartmouth, 1798. He was the settled 
minister of the Frrst Congregational Chiu-ch of Springfield, Vt., 
from a very early date, and died at that place in 1856. after a 
long, laborious and noble ministry. 

Rev. Levi Spaulding Avas born at JafFrey, August 22, 1791 . 
graduated at Dartmouth College, 1815; studied Divinity at An- 



80 JAFFUEY CENTENNIAL. 

dover, Mass., and went as a Congregational missionary to Ceylon 
in 1819. Here with one exception of a visit of three years to 
the U. S. he spent his life and labors in the Master's vineyard. 
He did much A'aluable work in a series of school-books, the com- 
piling of a Dictionary, and the translation of the Bible into the 
native tongue of Ceylon. He died June 18, 1873, after a long 
life of neble christian warfare. 

Rev. Luke Ainsworth Spoiford, born at Jaffrey, Nov. 5, 1786, 
was fitted for College under Rev. Laban Ainsworth, his pas- 
tor, and Rev. Dr. Payson, of Rindge, N. H. He graduated 
at Middlebury College, Vt., in IS 16. He studied divinity at 
Andover, Mass. ; was first settled at Gilmantown, N. H., then 
at Brentwood, Lancaster and Atkinson, then filled the office of 
Missionary for some time, and afterward labored for years in the 
missionary field of the Western States, and died at Rockport, 
Ind., Sept. 27, 1855. Earnestly and devotedly he spent his 
life for man's salvation, and left an excellent record as a faith- 
ful minister of Christ. 

Rev. Abel Spaulding was born at Jaffrey, Aug. 22d, 1791 ; 
graduated at Dartmouth, 1815 ; studied divinty at Andover, 
Mass. ; was settled at Cornich, N. H., where he died a few years 
since, much beloved by his denomination — the Congregational, 
and esteemed for his good ministerial record. 

Rev. James Howe was born at Jaffrey ; graduated at Dart- 
mouth College in 1817 ; studied Divinity at Andover, Mass., 
and was settled at Pepperill, Mass., Av^here he spent his life as a 
faithful, devoted and esteemed minister of the Congregationalists, 
and died in 1840, aged forty-three. 

Rev. Henry Shedd, born at Jaffrey ; graduated at Dartmouth 
College in 1826; studied Theology at Andover, Mass., and has 
spent nearly his entire life as a home missionary in the Western 
States as a Congreo-ationalist. 

Rev. Adonijah Cutter, born at Jafirey ; studied Divinity at 
Bangor Seminary, Me., and settled in the Ministry of the Con- 
gregrtionalists at Strafford, VI., in June, 1840 : here he spent a 



.lAFFKEY CENTENNIAL. 81 

ministry of ten years. Then for a time a minister at Hanover, 
N. H., being dismissed in 1857. He was soon after settled at 
Nelson, N, H., where he died in a short time, leaving a life of 
devotion and faithfulness. 

Rev. Jaquith, born at Jaffrey ; became a self-taught 

minister of the Baptist denomination in Maine, doing a good 
work, and is today on the field of missionary labor. 

Rev. Wm. Dutton, born at Jaffrey, in 1815 ; fitted for College 
at Melville Academy, entered BroAvn's University at Providence, 
R. I., in 1831), and graduated in 1842, with much honor. He 
taught school several years at Kalamazo, Mich., and dijd in 
1846, aged 30 years. For this noble man and promising minis- 
ter for the Baptist denomination, too much cannot be said. In- 
tensely industrious and studious, an honest and lively thinker, a 
devoted christian, he went down to an early grave, honored 
and beloved by all who knew him. Many on earth held his 
memory above price, and in glory did he pass to the spirit-land 
to receive the unfading (Jrown from the hand of the blessed Mas- 
ter. 

Rev. Andrew O. Warren, born at Jaffrey ; prepared for the 
study of Divinity at Melville Academy, entered on his theology 
course with J. V. Wilson in 1838, and completed it with Rev. 
Charles Woodhouse of W^estmoreland, N. H., in 1840, and the 
same year entered the ministry of the Universalists. He has 
been located at McDonough, Upper Lisle, and Smithville, N. Y., 
then at Montrose, Pa., where, and in the region, he has been ac- 
tively engaged in the ministry since 1849. 

In 1860 he began the study of Law ; was admitted to the Bar 
of Susquehanna County Court in 1862, and to the Supreme 
Court in 1865. And yet he has been continually in the Mas- 
ter's vineyard saving souls, and on week-davs, in the world, 
stoutly contending for the salvation of men's Avills from the 
ruins of avarice and self. 

Rev. E. S. Foster, born at Jaffrey, Sept. 1821 ; was a student 
at Melville Academv, Lawrence Academv of (jj-oton, Mass., 



82 JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

and closed his academic education at Keene, N; H., in 1843. From 
this time till 1849, he labored in the mercantile business. And 
in September of this year, he entered the study of Divinity with 
Rev. O. A. Skinner, D. D., of New York completing the course 
in about four years. After much sickness he was ordained 
in June, 1855, at South Hartford, Washington Coiinty, N. Y., 
where he first settled. He has labored in Abington, Mass., 
Cuttingsville and Chester, Vt., at Claremont, N. H., at Mid- 
dletown, Conn., and is now an active minister of the Universal- 
list denomination at Winchester, N. U. 

TlfUs much in brief of the history of Jaffrey's sons Avho have 
filled no ignoble place in the Chi'istian Ministry as each has un- 
derstood Christ and his scheme of salvation. I feel sure that 
they will compare favorably in body, talent and labor, with the 
same number of ministers selected from any town of equal pop- 
ulation in Now England. 

Here allow me a few words for our calling, and I am done. 
I believe it can be shown that the Ministry of Christian ty in 
the various Denominations, has done more to make JafFrey in 
the life and character of her citizens, than all other influences 
combined. 

Think for a moment ! Here is the intellect, that a few years 
ago, in feebleness, and helplessness nestled in its parent's arms and 
could not utter the word Mother ; — but today, can survey broad 
acres, build and furnish the gorgeous home, rear and finish the 
lofty temple, plan and perfect cities, make and defend empires, 
girdle the earth in a few moments with its thought, and leave 
character behind which shall be a missionary of blessed life. 
We, today are what our parents and the cloi'istian ministry have 
made us. 

Here fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters are our chil- 
dren, which all the wealth and empires of earth cannot purchase, 
and for whom you will give the last dollar, yea, and your life 
also, to defend from the grave. And they are in your hands, 
a id the christian ministry to mould and educate, to tune and 
tone for nobleness and virtue in the world, and to prepare for 
the iu'-flible scenes of the incorruptable life. 



JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 83 

Who among you can estimate the intellect of your child, — its 
probabilities and its possibilities in the coming days of earth !' — 
Remember ! all history teaches us that depression, misfortune 
and slavery cannot break it ; ambition, empire and enormous 
riches and rule cannot conquer it ; and the longest life and the 
best culture cannot fill the compass of its desire, or satisfy its ca- 
pabilities. 

This restless spirit, this irrepressible mind of your child is to- 
day for your shaping as clay in the potter's hand. 

What stamp are you putting upon it ! Is it that of mortgage 
bonds and government scrip, that will petrify the heart and 
curse with avarice and the long train of woes, the coming gener- 
ations ? Or is it the stamp of an honest and christian life of in- 
dustry, that will charm the coming individuals in the grandest of 
all characters — the life that is Christ to live ! Oh ! what a gift 
is your child ! What a gem of priceless value is its intellect, 
given to you as the artist who is to set it ! And are you setting 
it ? Are you setting it in the gilt of fashion and popularity, in 
game and Sabbath-breaking, vainly supposing that^the canker of 
remorse will not consume it ? 

Are you setting it in the rough of profanity and avarice, idly 
assuming that the fires of reti'ibution will not destroy it ? Or 
are you setting it in virtue, cultivation and spiritual refinement, 
and under ministerial toning, feeling assured that God renders 
to every man according to his deeds .'' 

Forget not I pray you, that a single man made the French 
nation, nominally all infidel. And another made them all war- 
riors. A Carthagenian General put his little boy of ten years, 
upon the altar of his country and made him swear to be Eome's 
eternal enemy. And he was such until he sunk into the grave. 

Now if such a mighty power lies dormant in your child, 
mould it to make the coming Jaffrey, or some other town to war 
for ever against ignoble character ; and on the alter of humani- 
ty make that child to afiirm understandingly that it will be the 
eternal enemy of all sin, depravity an^ crime. • 



84 JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

Kemcmber the fact, — here is a common school teacher, the most 
of Avhose students, as they went from his hands to the business 
workl, have been unfortunate in health and worldy matters. 
Here is another, most of the students of whom were sent into 
practical life, have been successful and happy, enjoyed much 
health, and occupied high positions. 

How important then, to have the right education ; what a 
need to have the best instruction toned into your children by a 
live, consecrated teacher, inspired by an energetic ministry ! 

Make the culture, Avhether from the school-room or the pul- 
pit, so perfect, so entertaining and instructive that all the fami- 
lies around it shall be drawn to it as all the vegetable Avorld is 
drawn up into life, beauty and worth by the sun ! Into this 
caiise should we collect all the stores of human learning, and re- 
duce them to one rational, charming and useful body of science 
— of active business, and of honest, ambitious character, that 
shall be as light to those in darkness, as water to the thirsty, as 
bread to the hungry, and as life to the dead. 

And the whole should be put under an affectionate, social, and 
instructive ministiij that can fondh^ the darling chikl, stimulate 
and tone heaven-ward the fiery youth, and inspire the young man 
to cut his name on humanity in the noblest deeds of an honest 
calling. Then make its devotion in righteousness and labor so 
intense and permeating, that it will assimilate or (innihiliitc the 
world of evil. 

A celebrated painter of Italy was once asked by a friend, — 
" Why he spent so much time and labor in the study of the arts 
nd sciences ; why he visited all Europe — the halls and galle- 
ries of all nations, and studied all the best paintings, and then 
came home and toiled day and night in mixing, and applying 
colors so attentively to the canvas .^" 

He replied, " I am painting for eternity." 

Oh ! coidd every parent, teacher, and minister understand this 
statement of the Artist ! But his pictua-e from the long years 
of study, toil, and suffering ; what is it, compared with your 
child i' 



JAFFKEY CENTENNIAL. <S5 

Yet, Raphael could spend a life-time and a world of treasure 
on it ! And Michael Angelo could exhaust all his powers and 
the income of a nation to finish that picture. 

Cannot you spend a feAv years to educate that child ? Cannot 
you give your influence and income to have and aid an intense- 
ly anxious and vital ministry, and leave a few pictures in the 
galleries of that child's memory and spirit that will inspire many 
a lost one from sin and death, to redemption and peace, and so 
leave your name where it will never die .'' 

Plutarch give us a learned Dissertation on the single Greek 
word "fr" found inscribed on the Temple of AppoUo at Delphi. 
In the lo7iic dialect we are told that it means — " I Avish." This 
perfectly expressed the state of mind of all who entered the tem- 
ple on the business of consultation. And an ancient scholar of 
great worth assumes that it is the initial word of a celebrated line 
in the 3d book of the Odyssey, and stands there as signifying 
the whole line which is thus rendered, viz: — '-Oh that the 
gods would empower me to obtain my wishes !" 

Oh ! that there was some such inifinl word in our mother 
tongue, that could be inscribed over every church-door ; the 
rendering of Avhich should be this, viz : — " Oh! that God would 
empower me to obtain my wishes for my child ! " 

But further. Back of all this needed culture, and around it, 
lays the purpose and effort, the will and energy and learning of 
the clergy. And for years, as a town's committee, Mr. Ains- 
worth held the school teachers in his hand ; and who shall say 
today, how much of our life, capability, integrity and prudence, 
energy, and will-power, eminated from that noble and heroic 
minister !* I may be presumptuous, but I firmly believe that the 
clergy who are in this world, not to be ministered unto but to 
minister, hold a position to which there is no other paramount. 
And to stimulate you up to its importance, worth and influence, 
I will enterrogate you. — AVhere in barbary and in a servitude 
worse then was Southern Slavery would be Avoaian's con- 
dition, if the christian ministry had never existed '. — If it 
had never existed, where would be our homes and children, 
and our hopes of the life to come .'' — Without the Christian min- 



86 JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

istry, how conceive and support a free and enlightened govern- 
ment? — without the ministry of the divine Word, how woukT 
you make, motikl and educate its legislators and judges.'' 

You study this subject, and it will be seen that our govern- 
ment — the best this side of heaven and founded on God's im- 
partial rule, could not carry out its principles, — could not secure 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to man, without the min- 
istry — the preaching of the Gospel. Without the christian 
Clergy men could not b.' qualified to respect constituti-d author- 
ities and administer laws. Without the ministry, man is not ca- 
pable of self-government. Without the ministry of the Gospel, 
Kingdoms and nations could not be kept from the inroads of 
passion, taint, corruption and ruin. Sodom, and Gomorah, Nin- 
evah and Babylon, Egypt and Jerusalem, Greece, Carthage and 
Kome, attest ^ith overwhelming evidence the awful consequen- 
ces, in their complete destruction, of rejecting the n^inistry of 
patriarchs, and prophets, of Christ and the Apostles. 

Thus we see that the richest, proudest, and most cultivated 
nations, with all their forts and navies, with all their schools, 
arts and sciences, have been swept from the face of the earth, 
because they refused the preaching of the great and good who 
were sent unto them. Remove a nation's honor, justice and 

virtue, which are the results of preaching and sanctuary privile- 
ges, and you take away every band that can hold her together, 
and remove all the elements of her life. 

A christian Clergy educate into society, all her convictions 
and understandings of moral obligations and accountability. 
They lift men to clear conceptions of duty to themselves, to 
those around them and to God ; and thus hold society in com- 
pact and contract. The christian Clergy are the conquering and 
aggressive forces on infidelity, and the absorbing army of all 
idoliatry and its baleful eflects. The gospel ministry imparts the 
needed means, and grace required by all men to escape death 
and acquire life, to pass from the ruins and woes of earth to the 
orders and joys of blessed character. Preaching b?ars away 
our iniquity, absorbs all sin and evil, cleanses the spirit, renews 



JAFFREY CENTEXNIAT.. 87 

the afFcetions ; bears all men from darkness to light, and makes 
man at-one-ment with God. Through ministering, Christ made 
his disciples the light of the world. And the Clergy have borne 
on that light which lighteth every man that cometh, and which is 
pressing every person with the necessity of repentance and re- 
generation. They aid, increase, and vitalize the information 
al^otit the resurrection, which inspires all men to a hioher life. 
The gospel ministry imparts the light and truth and intuition, 
which cannot be read from books, cannot be discovered in the 
best composition, cannot be rendered by the ablest stenographer, 
cannot be written by the most versatile genius possessed with 
the most copious vocabulary. Never forget then, that it was the 
llaiig soul in what Demothenes said, that moved the Athenians ; 
it was the immortal spirit in the utterances of Cicero, that thril- 
led the Senate ; it was the flashing of undying light in the eye 
and mien of Patrick Henry that held our Fathers spell-bound at 
the birth of Liberty; it was the soul of Paul in the intense, con- 
centrated, and burning truths, flashing out and shimmering in , 
lines of fire, by which the great Apostle entranced the wisdom 
and learning of Pome and Athens ! And it is the eye, and the 
spirit, and the light of the clergy which are required to combine 
and concen trate, and intensify the doctrines, the precepts, and 
examples of Christ until you are swept into purity, into sympho- 
ny with peace, with spiritual passion and poAver, and the ener- 
gies of everlasting life. 

In such an hoiu- of endless impressions, souls are born, aff'ec- 
tions renewed, hearts regenerated, and all of society moves up 
from barbarism to God and Christ. In such an hour the Clero-y- 
man is no longer a ;;yt7/rAe/- merely, but humanity itself, —train- 
pled, torn, bleeding, yet beautiful, — starting one glorious mo- 
ment in her terrible jaiin, with herhand lifted to the blue heav- 
ens over her heroic dead, and affirming her Great Oath, in the 
elemental life that is Cluist to live. 

I would bear to you at last then, in the urn of remembrance, 
ashes from the fires of the wondrous dead, to intensify your 
sense of the importance and worth of the christian cleryv'of the 
past and of todav. 



88 JAl'FREY CENTENNIAL. 

May you work fur and ivifh them as you would wish to have 
done when you look back on earth and the loved ones you leave 
behind, then will you receive in some measure the glorious an- 
swer of life's great prayer. And when you come to the congre- 
gation of silence, — 

They, who stand around your grave, 
Will rank you ncjbly. 

Sentiment No. 11. — "Jaffrey — Her Past and Her Pres- 
ent." Response by Dr. Daniel B. Cutter, of Peterboro', N. H. 

Mr. President.: — It affords me great pleasure to meet you 
and my former associates, here today. Few indeed are our 
numbers, so few, that in this vast congregation here assembled, I 
recognize only here and there a familiar face. Time has made 
such sad inroad into our numbers, that today I feel like a stranger 
in my own native town. The old Church, the place where 
our fathers worshiped, in gone by days, now stands a memo- 
rial of its former greatness, but the sound of the gospel is there 
no longer heard. Minister and people lie buried together in 
yonder grave-yard, silent in the sleep of death. For ever sa- 
cred be their ashes. To commemorate the doings of these men 
is the occasion of our meeting here today. A little more than 
100 years ago, the place, on which we now stand, and its sur- 
rounding as far as the eye can reach, was an unbroken forest. 
On the banks of the Contoocook grew the lofty pine, while on 
the hills and in the valleys grew a variety of hard wood, fir and 
hemlock; the mountain, which now presents a bare rock, was 
covered with spruce. From its side flowed numerous rippling 
streams, which, after passing through bog and swamp, united 
their flowing waters and formed the Contoocook river. The in- 
habitants of this, then wild domain, was the moose, the deer, the 
bear and the wolf, together Avith the Avild turkey and the pat- 
ridge. The streams were filled Avith trout, and the ponds with 
pickerel. Over this wild domain, in majestic grandeur, then 
clad with fir, now bald with age, peered the lofty Monadnock, 
SLU'veying the vast territory around, watching the progress of 
events, as the white man, here and there, made inroads in his 
Avild domain. Such was Jaffi'ey, when in 1752, Moses Stick- 



iiey, Richard Peabody, and se\cu otlicrs, niadi' an attempt at 
settlement in the Southeast part of the town. Tlirough fc'ar of the 
Indians, they all soon left except one of their number, known as 
Capt. Platts. During their stay, on Dec. 9th, IToo, Moses 
Stickney had a son born, whose name was Simon, who is sup- 
posed to bq the first white child born in Jaffrey. He never after 
resided there, but returned with his father to Boxford, ]Mass., 
and on matiu'ity, settled in Holden, and afterAvards removed to 
New Haven, Vt., and died in 1791. He left three daughters. 

The next attempt at settlement was made bv a colony of hardy 
adventurers from Londonderry, encouraged probably by their 
brethren, who had previously made a settlement in Peterboro', 
an adjoining township. But few of these however had the hard- 
ihood to remain as permanent settlers. After enduring the 
hardships and privations of a pioneer life for a time, they sold 
their rights to a Ahissachusetts colony, mostly from Essex and 
Middlesex Counties. These were the men, who on the 14th of 
September 1773, met and organized the town. This Avas done 
by virtue of a charter grantev_l by his Excellency, .John Went- 
worfh, then (Governor of the Province of New Hampshire, and 
Council, at Portsmouth, August 17th, 1778, who changed the 
original name. Middle Monndiiock Nu. 2, to Jaiirey, in honor 
of George Jaffrey, Es([., one of the original proprietors. The 
first town meeting was held at the house of Erancis Wright, Inn- 
kee]ier, situated on Lot No. 14, Kange 8. A second meeting- 
was held at the same place, on the i^Sth of the same month, and 
X'<SO L. M. wr.s voted for the repairing of roads, and £u L. iSL 
for preaching. No church was then built. They had preaching 
probably, in some private house. 4'he next year, 1774, the 
town voted to bnild a meeting-house, ^'oted to raise said house 
in June, 17 7'"). This was the first year of the Revolutionary 
War, one battle had already been fought, another was pending ; 
1() of their men were in the field, and ■while raising the church, 
it is said, the sound of the cannon was heard from Bunker Hill. 
Actuated by a sense of duty, they did not despond, but readily 
obeyed the call of their Country : men, money, provisions, and 
munitions of AAar, were promptly furnished, and M'hen we learn 



90 JAIIKEY CEXTEXXIAL. 

that a town of only 3-)l inhabitants furnished 72 men during th(' 
war, Ave cannot be surprised at their success in that Avar. 

During seven long and pei-ilous years, they met the requir- 
ments of their country, and through the blessing of God, triumph- 
ed at last, and laid the foundation of her futiu'e greatness. We, 
their descendants, may well feel proud of such fathers, and moth- 
ers too, who, if they were not in the battle field, were in other 
fields, doing no less glorious service for theii- God, and their 
country. During all this period of war and suffering, the church 
was not only raised, but so far completed as to be made use of 
for public worship. With the men of that time, a neglect of re- 
ligious diity Avould have been fatal, in their minds, to their suc- 
■cess in battle. They relied on the God of heaven, and acted 
under a sense of His presence, feeling sure of victory only through 
11 is aid and with His blessing. 

In 17<S0 a church Avas organized, and on December 10, 1782, 
the Rev. Laban Ainsworth Avas ordained their pastor ; Avho, dur- 
ing an extraordinary long life, administered to the Avants of this 
people, in all matters pertaining to religious duty. In person he 
Avas of medium height, in appearance dignified, in deportment 
affable, Avhich together with an intellectual superiority, enabled 
him to command the love and respect of his felloAv men. He 
was the ruling poAver of the church, the district school, and 
I might say, the toAvn. For a I'ong series of years he Avas the 
Superintending School Conuuittee, Avhose frequent visits and 
sao-e counsel I Avell remember. In the early days of the toAvn, 
the education of their children Avas a matter of interest. In 
1775, £8 lawfxd money Avas voted for a school. No school- 
houses Avere then built. Where the school Avas taught is a mat- 
ter of conjecture. School-houses, school-teachers and school- 
books Avere rare things in those days. The Bible, the psalm- 
book, and the primer Avere almost the only books in their pos- 
session. With such means, it must have recjuired the ingenu- 
ity of a mother to teach their children to read. 

The Spelling-book, Reader and Arithmetic at length made 
their appearance. With a determination admirable, and pa- 
tience remarkable, they overcame every obstacle, established 
schools, ediicated their children, furnished the Avorld with 2'> 



JAF1-K1:Y CKNTEXMAl.. 91 

College Graduates, besides many more Avho qualified themselves 
for a professional life by an Academical education. Jaffrcy has 
furnished Pastors for the Church, Counselors for the Bar, and 
Physicians for the sick. One of her sons, has been honored 
with the seat of Chief Justice in his own State, while another is 
a distinguished Missionary in Ceylon. 

The clouds of war at length pass away ; — the sushine of peace 
blesses the land. The farmer returns to the plough, the me- 
chanic to his work-shop, the merchant to his counter, the swords 
are beat into ploughshares, and bayonets into reaping hooks, and 
the people hope to learn war no more. 

A new era has now commenced ; the foot-paths gradually be- 
come passable roads ; the rude cabin a framed house ; the thatch-' 
ed hovel a commodious barn ; the forest falls, upon its ashes the 
fertile field and the green meadows appear. The little school- 
house is seen here and there, by the side of the road. Grist- 
mills, saw-mills, stores and taverns — showing trade and travel — 
are now becoming common. AVheel carriages take the place of 
the saddle and the pillion, — the whole family can now ride to 
church. The turnpike, the wonder of the age, is now built, 
opening the way for a stage coach from Boston to Wapolcand 
back, twice a wtiek, which in its turn, affords not only means of 
conveyance for passengers, but for a mail also, which is estab- 
lished, and a Post Office too ; letters can now be sent and re- 
ceived. The sons and daughters abroad, can exchange letters 
with their parents at home, and to cap the climax, they can now 
take a Newspaper, one being published at Keene, in 1799. 

The town is now in a healthy, thriving condition, all of the 
necessaries and conveniences of life are at command. The farm- 
er can now sleep undistiu'bed by the hoAvl of the wolf, prowl- 
ing around for the destruction of his flock, — his herd and flock 
are safe in the field by night as well as by day, — no more herd- 
ing or folding necessary. He is indeed lord of his own domain, 
independent of all monopolies. 

We have now reached the ])resent century, the age of scien- 
tific research, the age of invention, the age of high intellectual 
culture and refinement, ^^he winds and the waves now obey 



9^ JAFl'KKY CKN 1 KNMAr,. 

the dictate of man, and are made subservient to his wislies. 
The lighning too at his command, carries intelhgenre at his bid- 
ding. Head Avork is the order of the day, and bodily labor dis- 
creditable. No means are spared in the culture of the intellect, 
and hardly any used for the improvement of the moral and phys- 
ical organization. Greatness has left the seat of goodness, and 
now sits in the lap of ease and luxury. We are now showered 
with blessings, but like Rome of old, are we not in danger of the 
Goths and Vandals ? Will not the extravagance of our times, 
so destructive to our offspring, open Avide the door for the en- 
trance of another rac(> that will supplant us :* Or do we look 
forward, with the expectation of Abraham of old, that oiu* chil- 
dren and our children's children are to be the possessors of this 
gift of their fathers, through all coming generations f Do we rely 
on our intelligence ( so did Rome on her's. Do w-e rely on our 
own goodness .'' so did the children of Abraham on their 's. Both 
fell ! By obeying the precepts of the I^ord, our fathers were 
blessed, and wc, their des?endants, can rec(>iAethe same blessing, 
only by the same ob(>dienee. May we then emulate their vir- 
tues, and render due obedi'uee to the precepts of our Heavenly 
Father. 

Se-NTI.mem' So. \t2. — '• The Homes of Our \'()uth."' Re- 
sponse bv Rev. Andrew (). \\ arren, oi' Montrose. I^i. 

Mr. Prc'Siden/. Liid/cs mnl (iciitlcmcii ; Fe^lnv Ihirnsnicit. : — 
I do not come forward to mak(> a speech at this hour, for I have 
none written. But I did think this morning that possibly I 
might Hnd one her(> already AAritten at my hands. If I were to 
speak at all, you would Hnd tliat T A\as good in disuiTsing a 
crowd in that way. 

But allo\\' me to congratulate you, fellow to\\nsmeu, at this 
time, for the grand history of the past 100 years that is closed 
by this anniversary, and for its grander prophc>cy for the next 
century. 

I feel it to be one of the proudest days of my life, that I am 
permitted to be here and to acknowledge this as my native place. 
Here indeed are " the dear homes of our youth." Here Ave be- 
gan our Aery being and laid the foundation for evei'A' superstruct- 



JAFFltEY CEXTENMAL. 98 * 

Tire, — we have our record, morally, socially, intellectually and 
spiritually. My native place was in School District No. 4, and 
I hopa I never have, nor shall be permitted to dishonor it. 
Well do I remember some of the old people in that section of 
the town, particularly one old Mr. Plorton, who was favored far 
above the most of his neighbors by the Divine Being if we can 
believe his story. He said as he Avas working by his flat piece, 
the voice of the Lord came to him and said, "go preach my 
word to the people." At first he excused himself, but on the 
repetition of the call, he started out. Came to my fivther's houso 
and talked to my good mother day after day. One Sunday he 
made an appointment at the school-house and I attended. Dur- 
ing his speech he said he should preach nothing that Avas not 
found between the lids of the Bible. But he soon began a ti- 
rade of abuse upon the "pocky cotton factories," and other cor- 
porations in the land, and declared his conviction that they 
Avould be the ruin of our country. But the country lives, — the 
cotton mills Uac and prosper, 1)ut Mr. Horton rests with his 
fathers. 

I remember particularly my first Sunday school-teacher, Levi 
Fisk, Esq., and I never shall forget one remark made by him. 
He was a man of good judgment in most matters, yet he had his 
weak points. Speaking of Railroads, as one was then being 
talked of from Boston to Bellows Falls, one route might lay 
across some part of our town ; the old squire " said he Avould rath- 
er have three of the best farm buildings in tow n all destroyed 
by fii'e annually, to be replaced by taxes on the town, rather 
than have a Railroad in it." You of this hoiu- do not concur in 
that opinion. If it were to be said now, no more cars would 
ever enter your town, you Avould seek and follow the cars Avher- 
evcr they Avent. 

But I Avill not detain you. From '•' the homes of our j'outh," 
many of us have made a Avide departure. Yet it is no matter 
Avhere avc may go in after time, Ave shall find no place around 
Avhich cluster such halloAved memories as gather here. In mem- 
ory Ave see again the forms of our fathers and mothers, long 
since gone to their eternal rest, gliding in oiu- midst. Me hear 



^4 



JAFFREY CENTEN>'IAT,. 



their voices saying to us here, we lived, toiled and died to sow 
the seeds, the fruit of which, you, our childi'en, are permitted 
this day to gather. 

Mighty changes have marked the march of years that are past, 
but the record is good. Go forward still, with a stout heart and 
manly purpose, and yon shall have a grander history to conclude 
100 years from today. Not one of us shall see that distant time, 
save in promise, the reality of which we cannot doubt. 

The whole field of my thought at this time is beautifully ex- 
pressed by the poet, if I am able to call the words to mind, 
thus : 



Life is like a stately temple 
That is founded in the sea, 

Whose uprising fair proportions 
Penetrate immensity; 

Love the architect who builds it, 
Building it eternally. 

Tome, standing in the present, 
As one waits beside a grave, 

Up the isles and to the altar 
Rolls the Past its solemn wave, 

With a murmer as of mourning. 
Undulating in the nave. 

Pallid phantoms glide around me 
In the wrecks of hope and home ; 

Voices moan among tlie waters, 
Faces vanish in the foam ; 

But a peace, divine, nnfailiug, 
Writes its promise in the dome. 

Cold the waters where my feet are, 

But my heart is strung anew. 
Tuned to Hope's profound vibration. 



Pulsing all the ether through, 

For the seeking souls that ripen 

In a patience strong and true. 

Hark! the all-inspiring Angel 
Of the Future leads the choir; 

All the shadows of the temple 
Are illumed with living lire, 

And the bells above are waking 
Chimes of infinite desire. 

For the strongest or the weakest 
There is no eternal fall ; 

Many graves and many monrners, 
Biit at last — the lifted pall ! 

For the highest and the lowest 
Blessed life containeth all. 

O thou fair unfinished temple ! 

In unfathomed sea begun. 
Love, thy builder, shapes and lifts thee 

In the glory of the sun ; 
And the builder and the builded 

To the pure in heart — are one. 



J A F 1' H E Y ( K N 'I' K N N 1 Al. . 



yd 



PARTING HYMN. 

BY MISS HENRIETTA S. CUTTER. 

Air — '^ Ai'ld Lang Syne.'" 
Tlie Bund, Choir and audience unitedly .swelling; " the tide of soug along.' 



The sha'^es of night are gathering fast, 

Kound old Monadnock's brow, 
While we must say the parting word, 

With friendship's hand clasp now ; 
While we must break the golden links 

Tliat bind reunion's chain ; 
Yet often memory 'II bear us back — 

Back to this day again. 

Among the many gathered here 

Are those of sterling worth, 
Upon whose brows the impress rests 

Of the great and good of earth ; 
And with those passing down life's hill, 

Just coming up are some, 
Whose laurel crown for worthy deeds 

In th' future must be won. 



'Mid .ioys of this Centennial day, 

A silent tear we shed, 
For parents, brothers, si^ters, friends, 

Now sleeping with the dead 
They 've left to us the well-worn paths 

On life's great harvest field ; 
May we the seed full early sow. 

That th' grain may heavj' yield. 

One century hence — that future day 

Is only known to God ; 
But M'E shall rest all peacefully 

Beneath the flowering sod. 
We 've met today, and now we pnrt — 

Now we must say " good-bye ;" 
May Heaven's rich blessings on all rest 

We '11 meet again on high. 



Peter Upton, Esq. moved that this meeting' adjourn for one 
hundred years, and it was unaninumsly \ oted. Tlii-ee cheers 
for " The One Hujidredth Anniversary of the Town of JafFrey " 
preceded a quiet dispersal of home-seeking strangers and towns- 
people from the soon deserted canvass. 

Note. — We are indebted to George Wilder Fox for a portion of this, 
(copied), as reported by him for the New Hampshire Sentinel. 

The following letters were received from the absent sons of 
Jaff'rey, who could not, for reasons therein specified, unite in 
the centennial exercises. 



Pittsburgh, Pa.. July 2.S, 1873. 
To Jnlli/s Cutter and Others. Cummittee : 

Gentlemen : — I have the liouor 
to acknowledge the receipt of your letter inviting mo to be pres- 
ent at the Centennial Anniversary of the incorporation of the 
town of Jafirey. It would give me great pleasure to be thereon 
an occasion of such interesl to all natives of the dear old town; 
but the state of my health will not permit it. Wherever its sons 
and daughters may wander, or wdierever dwell, their thoughts 
must frequently turn back with kindly regards, as mine do, to 
the home of childhood : and we are always glad to know that 



9(1 .lAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

tlic friencl.s we left behind us there still enjoy the thril't and com- 
forts that come by industry and skill, in the useful arts. God 
bless old JaOVey, and its people. 

Situated near the geographical centre of New Euglund, that 
town Avell represents New England character and life; and its 
granite hills and towering mountain as well represent the old 
Granite State. It is New England in its purity ; and its charac- 
ter is strongly impressed upon its children. Wherever we may 
be, we are Americans and patriots; attached to the homes of our 
adoption; but Yanhees f>\\\\. 

A Century is a long time. Yet the first settled minister of the 
town lived in honor and esteem to see his centennial birthday. 
But how many events have occui'red in that time ! A Century 
ago considerable portions of the thirty Indian tribes thai once 
inhabited New England, were still within its borders. Now, 
none remain : and even th(Mr languages are all dead, oi- exist 
only on the silent pages of the Eliot Bible. A wide region has 
become a fruitful land, distinguished for industiy and intelli- 
gence, and out from among you have gone very many, to peo[)lo 
new regions towards the setting sun. 

A Century hence, let Jaffrcy again call together her children, 
and out from among a hmidi'ed and fifty millions people, stretch- 
ing quite across a continent, they will come; and will rejoice to 
find. old Jaftrey still prosperous and happy. 

Wishing you a large and pleasant meeting, 

I am, Youi-s very truly, 

GEO. F. GILLMORE. 



Oberlin, Ohio, August 15, 1873. 
F. H. ( 'utter, and OtJtcrs : 

Dear Sirs: — The card of invitation to the 
Jaffrey Centennial was duly received. I do not know of any- 
thing that would give me more pleasure than to attend this cele- 
bration, if I could afibrd the journey. Jaffrey is my birth-place, 
and the birth-place of my mother, and all my brothers and sis- 
ters but one. It is just a third of a century since my father, 
with nine children, removed to this place. With us came my 
lather's father, and a brother and sister of my mother, — Thomas 
and Betsey Joslin. Of the fourteen, only my mother and three 
younger sisters and myself remain. 

I have repeatedly visited Jaffrey, and renewed the impress- 
ions of early boyhood, 'i'here is no spot on earth so full of in 



.TAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 97 

teresting associations and touching memories, as that mountain 
town. Every object, from the cloud capjjed Monadnock, to the 
old school-house and blacksmith shop at the middle of the town, 
is full of suggestions and tender interest. The very changelcss- 
ness of the upper part of the town, is a gratification. It still 
stands as it appeared to my nine years old cyes^ a third of a 
century ago ; and I can but hope that it will remain so. I should 
delight to bring the greetings of my mother and our family to 
the friends of our childhood, and join in celebrating the birthday 
of the dear old towi:. If she is poor in soil, she is rich in the 
beauty and grandeur of her scenery, and rich in her children and 
gj-and-childien, scattered over all the land. May your commem- 
oration be one worthy of the venerable mothers, and a satisfac- 
tion to all the sons and daughters who may gather from near 
and far. If any printed record is prepared, please send two or 
three copies to me, with my share of the expense. 

Yours ti'uly, 

JOHN M. ELLIS. 



Canandaigua, Michigan, Aug. 14, 1873. 
Joffrey Centenjiial Commit fee of Arrangements : 

Gentlemen: — Your kind invitation for 
me to be present at the Centennial gathering of my native town, 
leachcd me in due time. It would give me great pleasure to be 
with you on that occasion ; to meet friends from whom I have been 
long separated, and whom I may nevei' see elsewhere. But niy 
present surroundings and duties will compel me to decline your 
invitation and lemain at home. If tiadilion be not at fault, it is 
jnst one liundied ycai'S since my grand-father,Pliineas Spauiding, 
in the Southwest part of the town, broke the forest that after- 
wards made him a pleasant home. Then, the only highway was 
a footpath through the tangled wildwood, and trees that had 
been marked and scathed by the woodman's axe or hatchet; the 
only guide to those denizens of the forest, from one point to an- 
other, — to meeting and to mill. Then, too, the slow footed ox, 
yoked and hitched to the old two-wlu^eled cait in summer, and 
the heavy sled in wintei-. was the only pleasuie carriage for 
week-day oi' for Sunday, and the only mode of conveyance from 
neighbor to neighbor^ or IVom town to town. Horses were few, 
and mostly used for riding on the back. It was no uncommon 
thing for man and wife to be seen riding both on one beast; he 
in front on the j^addle and she behind on the pillion. Young 



OS JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 

ladies with their beaux would thus ride for recreation and for 
pleasure, till tlie pillion o-ave place for another horse and side- 
saddle, and then they traveled side by side. Sixty years ao-o, 
on the spot now f^ccupied by your commodious Hotel, stood the 
dwelling-house of Dea. Eleazer Spofford, which, with outbuild- 
ings, and grist and saw mill down by the river, were about all 
that could be seen for buildings, where your pleasant village 
now stands. Spofford's mills were known for their superiority 
of workmanship over everything else of the kind, foi- many miles 
around. Dne little anecdote as touching the old sa\v niill I can 
I'enicmber in ni} boyhood days. 

When it was fir^t in operation, as one gate shut and another 
opened, moving the heavy carriage with its ponderous log to and 
from the saw, a colored man standing by in amazeujent, ex- 
claimed : " Massa Spoflfoid, don't you think you could invent a 
machine to lioe corn ?" 

Those wei-e primitive days; times when our grand-fathers and 
giand-mothers had to toil for tlieii- daily food, and right glad 
wei'c they, if they could bring the two ends of the year to meet, 
with a few spare dollars for de{)Osit against the time of need. — 
In those ear:y days, ahnost every house held its instrument — not 
the modern piano, but the old fashioned spinning wheel, and 
while the foot pressed the pedal, the fingers instead of gliding 
over keys of ivory to the tune of Yankee Doodle, or God save 
the King, or perchance the more solemn strains of Old Hundred 
or SfMarUn's, wcie busy in drawing the thread from the pine 
distaff, to be Avi'ought into cloth for the clothing of the house- 
hold. I will venture the assertion that \ou cannot in your town 
todav, lind a young lady under twenty years of age, that can 
spin a skein' of line linen, or in her grand-mother's old hand loom 
weave a yard 'f cloth. I >ay this, not by way of disparagement 
to any one, for 1 well know that modern improvements and ma- 
chinerv have done away with most of that kind of labor. To- 
day you have your pleasant homes, your good roads, your car- 
riages of comfort and of ease, and instead of the lumbering stage 
coach that used daily to pass through your village, from Keen.e 
to Boston, is seen the iron horse, puffing and blowing on his feed 
of tire, and drawing in his wake a burden that many stage teams 
could not move an inch. 

1 have hastily gleaned at a few things in the century that has 
passed, but who among your gathering today will be present to 
read the history of the century to come? It would be no pre- 
sumption to answer not one. 



JAFFREY CENTENNIAT.. 99 

In conclusion, I will offer the following sentiment: '' Old Jaf- 
frey : — May her virtue and mora^ty keep even pace with her 
internal improvements for a hundred years to come." 
Very respectfully yours. 

LYMAN SPAULDING. 



Barre, Vt., August 18, 1873. 
Mr. Julius Cutter : 

My Dear Sir: — Evei' since the reception of 
your invitation to be present and participate in the celebration 
of the Centennial Anniversary of the incorporation of the town, 
I have hoped to meet you there. But the debility from which I 
am just now suffering, reminds me that quiet is better suited to 
my condition. 

You mav know that during ten years and a half I was en- 
gaged in examining the teachers and caring for the children of 
your Common Schools, I knew all the young people of school, 
age; and, before I left town, I copied all their names and ages 
from the registers. Were it permitted, I should like to respond 
to the sentiment, " Our Common Schools."' We have been nur- 
tured there, and we are all the alumni or alumuce of that insti- 
tution. You meet as graduates from the people's college. — 
Though you differ in your religions and political preferences, 
here you are bi'cthren. 

The early inhabitants of Jaflfrey so recognized the necessity 
of schools, that, ninety-eight years ago last April, at the second 
annual town meeting that was holden under the charter, an ap- 
propriation of eight pounds was voted for the support of a school. 
Ever since that time, it is known that the town has every year, 
except one, voted a sum of money for a like purpose. The first 
school-house was built at the expense of the town, in the year 
1778. It stood just across the road from father Ainsworth's 
house, and remained there till the year 1809. Within twelve 
years after this first house was put up, there were nine others in 
town. 

Could you examine a catalo::ue which contained the names of 
all who have shared in the advantages of your schools, and could 
you read tiieir history also, you would see a record of which you- 
might justly be pi"oud. 

1 remain, Very truly yours, 

LEONARD TENNEY. 



100 jaffrey centennial. 

Amherst, July 18, 1873. 

Dear Sir: — Yours of the 28th ult. giving me notice of the Cen- 
tennial Celebration at Jafirej', on the 20th prox. and of a senti- 
ment to which I am invited to respond, has been received. 

I have delayed answering hoping to be able to so arrange my 
business engagements, that I might be present on that occasion, 
but I find it will not ])e possible for me to attend'. 1 have an 
engagement which takes me to Chicago, at that time, which can- 
not be postponed. I regret very much that 1 cannot ^lave the 
j)leasure of meeting the good citizens of my native town on that 
day, and enjoying the festivities of the occasion, but my time be- 
ing previously engaged, is not at my own disposal. 

Wishing you a successful and pleasant Celebration on the day 
appointed, I am, 

V^ei-y truly, your obedient servant, 

E. S. CUTTER. 

F H. Cutter, Esq., Jeffrey, N. H. 



Yates City, Knox County, Illinois, Aug. 8, 187S. 
To the Committee of Arrangements : 

Dear Sirs : — Your kind favor, invit- 
ing me to be present with you upon the occasion o( your Cen- 
tennial, has been received, but it finds me engros-^ed in business 
arrangements, such that 1 cannot conveniently accept your invi- 
tation ; a piivilege which I should most dearly love to enjoy. — 
This being the case, I tru-t you will allow me to express a 
thought that seems full in my mind, and thus add my mite to 
youi' (estivitres. 

More than twenty-five years have passed since 1 broke bands 
with the dear old town and friends, and launched out upon the 
unknown future to pursue my journey through life ; yet I have 
not forgotten the spot that gave me birth. The broad prairies 
and boundless harvests, fill my soul with gladness and my heart 
with thanksgiving, but my mind continually runs back with de- 
limit to rav old native New Hampshire hills, with Jaflfi-ev for its 
centre, and the gray old Monadnock for its chief coi-ner stone. 

Oh Memory ! What volumes fill thy space as I contemplate 
the past. I live over again the days of my youth ; I think of 
the sports of No. 1 1 ; of the achievements in " Melville ;" I won- 
der at my efforts in No. 6, and feel sui-prised at my success in 
No. 3; I contemplate the pleasures of our social and religious 



JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 101 

pi'ivilcges ; our lyceum and singing schools ; our annual trainings 
and musters and 4th of July celebrations, and wonder if it took 
them all to help make me a man ? Aye, and I answer to my- 
self, yes! and more too, for it requires the determination to be 
a man. In the days of the Caesars, it was the height of ambition 
to become a Roman citizen. How much more for every one 
born upon American soil, to be in truth an American citizen. — 
Reflecting upon the efforts that were made use of to fit us who 
are upon the present drama of life, by oui- fathers and mothers 
who have mostly gone to their I'cward, let it remind us of our 
duty to those whom Pr n-idence has placed in our charge, the 
young of the land. 

Honored as old Jaffrey has always been for the virtue and 
general intelligence of its citizens, with how much pleasure can 
you turn to your young and youth and feel that a brighter future 
is before them than we enjoy. The generous munificence of one 
of your townsmen, has placed greater privileges and biigliter 
prospects before you, and as the town has so far already hon- 
ored itself, what may not the most sanguine expect hereafter? 

The sun never shone upon lovelier hills; man was never 
fanned by purer breezes; streams never rattled down pi-ecipiccs 
treer than do thse in your own. my own native town. The arts 
and sciences lend their aid, and your old men and your old wo- 
men, your young men and your young women, yes, and your 
youth, may, if they will, be honored and praised throughout the 
land. 

Permit me then, to close by offering this sentiment : " The 
good old town of Jaftrey ; Wherever her sons or daughters rove, 
may her memory to them be as bright as her waters are pure 
and their honor as lasting as Monadnock itself." 

Yours with much respect, 

D. COKl^V. Jli. 



Campt()xmi,i,e, N. H., Aid. loth, 1873. 

Gf nth /IK II of the CoiinnUtcc. : 

Your invitation to attend thr CeutLUiiial 
Celebration at Jaffrey, on the 2()th iust., has been received. I 
regret that engagements at lionie \y\\1 pre\'ent my attendance up- 
on that interesting occasion. 

Though not a native of Jaffrey, I went then- to reside at so 
early a period of my life, that whatever is pleasant in youthful 
recollections of home and early friends are centered there. 



102 JAFFT^EY CEXTENNIAI,. 

My acquaintances with JafFrey commenced in that transition 
period when it was changing from an ahnost exckisivcly agricul- 
tural town, to one of manufacturing and educational facilities as 
well. 

The early fathers of the town, such as the first Col. Prescott, 
the first Dr. Howe, Judge Parker, Capt. Joseph Cutter, John 
Cutter, tanner, I remember as silver haired men at that tijne, 
who soon passed away, and gave place to their descendants of 
the second generation, who worthily carried forward the town 
in its career of prosperity and literary advancement. To men of 
this generation the town was indebted for the establishment of 
iMelville Academy, an institution which exerted an extensive 
and abiding influence for good, and carries to a high degree the 
standard of education among the sons and daughters of Jaff"rey. 
And, although this institution has ceased to exist, it is a matter 
of congratulation that the munificence of one of her citizens has 
continued to Jaff"rey the means of a good High School education 
to all her youth in the future. 

I have been pleased to note in occasional visits, the rapid pro- 
gress of Jaffrey in material prosperity, and hope she may con- 
tinue in her onward march of improvement. 

In conclusion, I would say that I have dwelt for a time in the 
far South, where the Orange blooms, and the Fig and the Pome- 
granate put forth leaves and fruit ; I have resided in the middle 
region of our Country, where the Grape and the Peach and the 
Nectarine flourish, I have traveled Westward to the centre of 
that great valley where the Mississippi rolls its vast volume of 
waters, where waving fields of grain furnish food for a conti- 
nent, but I have yet to see the land which on the whole, the 
dAvellers rotuid the base of the xMonadnock, need envy its pos- 
sesion as a home. 

With best wishes to the Committee personally, and hope that 
an auspicious day may render the Celebration a success, 
I remain, yours veiy truly, 

CHARLES CUTTER. 
To Y. H. Cutter and others. 



jaffkey centennial. lo-s 

Mansfield, Ohio, Aug. 11, 1873. 

Commilfee of Arrangements ; — Gentlemen : — I received your 
card of invitation to attend a Celebration of the One Hundredth 
Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town of JafFrey. 

Living in what was called the far Went when I left my New 
Hampshire home, I can only send my regrets at not being able 
to be present on that interesting occasion, and visit 

Tlie land where a father dwells, 
And that holds a mother's grave. 

My mind reverts to many scenes of youthful days, since re- 
ceiving your card. I often think of the daily labor of New 
Englancl Farmers' boys, who, from my experience, go into the 
field at an early age, and get permission to go fishing only when 
it rains too hard to work out of doors, and there is no corn to 
shclL This, with brown bread and milk for supper, gives a boy 
a good constitution with which to fight the battle of life. 

I often think of the days, when, for the want of something to 
read, I walked four miles to the old church to attend the Sab- 
bath School, get a Library book, and hear the good old man 
preach, who then dressed in the fashion of our revolutionary 
fathers. On my last visit to JaflE"rey, I was glad to see that an- 
cient edifice in so good a state of preservation. May it stand 
another century, a monument to religion, morality and education. 

During the late strife for the preservation of our glorious 
Union, there was talk, even in Ohio, of our Country being di- 
vided — the East from the West, as well as the North from the 
South. I thought of my admiration of the great West, the 
Country of my adoption, and my love for New England, the land 
of my nativity, and often found myself repeating a verse I had 
cut from -some paper about the time of leaving my native State, 
which I will offer as a sentiment ; 

•' New England, dear New England, 

My birth-place prond and free : 
A traitor's curse be on my head. 

When I am false to thee." 

Please remember me kindly to all the friends of my youth, in 
in the good old Town of JafFrey. 

\ erv trulv vours, 

P. BIGELOW. 



104: jaffrey cextexxial. 

Cambridge, Avgi st, LSTo. 

Dear Sir : — I tliank you for the invitation to your Centen- 
nial festival. If my health would have permitted, it Mould have 
given me much pleasure to have joined in the celebration. I 
have been told that I was born in Jaffrey, but it was so long- 
ago, 1784, that none of the present inhabitants could testify to 
the fact ; but as it would be equally difficult to produce any evi- 
idence to the contrary, I may as well, on this occasion, claim the 
honor. 1 understand that my parents removed from Jaffrey to 
New Ipswich when I was about a year old, and the most that 
I recollect of Jaffrey, relates to my being sent there to school, 
about seventy-eight years ago. The school was kept by a for- 
eigner, by the name of Dillon, who had a great reputation for 
teaching penmanship, and was about as much celebrated for the 
use of the rod as the pen, and I dare say tradition may have 
preserved some anecdotes of his severe teachings in that line, 
which were of a nature to be remembered as long as any of his 
other lessons. At this school 1 was a class-mate with General 
James Miller, who got his education rather late in life, and we 
studied our English Grammar together, in the same seat, he at 
the age of twenty-one, and I at the age of eleven. I think Dillon 
never attemptecl to use the rod upon Miller ; if he had, the fu- 
ture warrior might have commenced his campaign somt> years 
before the war of 1812. Among the school-mates that 1 re- 
member, were Dr. Abner Howe and his brother Dr. Adonijah 
Howe, who are, no doubt, Avell remembered and much respected 
by many of the present inhabitants of Jaffrey. Andi'ew Thorn- 
diiie was one of the fcirailiar names of that day, though consider- 
ably older than my school-mates. 

Some vears after my school boy days, I recollect climbing to 
tlie tuj) of Monadnock, and finding on the highest pinnacle, a 
(.late, and what appeared to be the initial letter of three or lour 
names, rudely pounded out, with much labor, on the solid ledge 
apparently by the use of no better implement than a stone. This 
may probably still be found there, though not without careful 
search, as the inscription though deep is rather indistinct. It 
may probably be a record of the first visit to the mountain after 
the settlement of the country, and would be a very interesting 
item in the history of your Centennial, if it had not already been 
published. I took a copy of it at the time, but have not been 
able to find it. 

With best wishes for the continuance of the prosperity of my 
native town. 

^ our hiunble servant, 

L. L. Pierce. Esq. SAMUEL BATCHELDEK. 



JAFFREY CENTEXXIAL. 



10/ 



The following is a list 
to pay the expenses of 
amount paid by each. 

John Fox, 

Gurley A. Phelps, 

Ethan Cutter, 

Joseph P. Frost, 

Asa Nutting, 

Timothy Blodgett, 

Laban Rice, 

Jonas C. Rice, 

Edwin R. Cutter, 

Benjamin F. Lawrence, 

Geo. F. Potter, 

Edmund C. Shattuck, 

Thomas K. GofF, 

Lucius A. Cutter, 

Nathaniel Cutter, 

Julius Cutter, 

Jonathan D. Gibbs, 

Luke French, 

Rufus Case, 

John A. Cutter, 

Lyman K. Earn urn, 

Eleazer W. Heath, 

Charles A. Baldwin, 1 

Charles C. Libby, 1 

George F. Gilmore, 1 

John Conant, 20 

Arad Adams, 10 

Franklin H. Cutter, 15 

John AV. Woodruff, 2 

Nehemiah Cutter, 4 

James R. Harrington, 1 

Edmund P. Shattuck, -3 

Henry C. French, 5 

Joseph W. Fassett, 5 

Geo. A. Underwood, 15 

Ezra Baker, 5 

Milton Baker, 5 

John Heckcr, 5 

Levi P. Towne, .'] 

Charles A. Cutter. 2 



of the names of those who subscribed 
the Centennial Celebration, with the 



$25 
1 
5 
5 

o 
O 

10 
5 

10 
5 

10 
1 
2 
1 
5 
5 

15 
1 
1 
4 

10 

1 

o 



OOlWilliam P. Stevens, 
00 Charles Stevens, 
00 Henry Chamberlain, 
OOlAnson W. Jewett, 
00:Gustavus A. Cutter, 
OOjJohn S. Button, 
00 Frederic Spaulding, 
00 Otis G. Rice, 
OOlLevi E. Bri^ham, 



00 
00 
00 
00 



Jonathan J. Comstock, 
L E. Keeys, 
Ambrose W. Sjjaulding, 
J. F. Stone, 



OOjDaniel P. Adams, 



00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 



Addison J. Adams, 
E. G. Bryant, 
Jonas Cutter, 
Joseph T. Bigelow, 
Richard Spaulding, 
Vryling D. Shattuck, 
Austin A. Spaulding, 
Michael D. Fitzgerald, 
Leonard E. Spaulding, 
Clarrence S. Bailey, 
Lafayett Blood, 
Marshall C. Adams, 

00 John S. I^awrence, 

OOJPeter Hogan, 

00|Francis Lowe, 

00:Benjamin Cutter, 

(H) Joseph Davis, 

00 C. B. Davis, 

00 Dexter Pierce, 

OOiCharles Bacon, 

OOlloseph A. Thaver, 

00 Luke Nutting, 

00 Benjamin L. Baldwin, 

OOJLevi Pollard, 

OOlWilliam Upton, 

00 'Samuel T. Wellman, 



2 00 

3 00 



00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
S 00 



00 

00 

00 

00 

00 

3 00 

2 00 

10 00 

00 

00 

00 

00 

00 

00 

00 

00 

00 

00 

'00 

00 



20 00 
2 00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 



106 



JAFFREY CENTEXNIAI,. 



Stephen F. Bacon, 
Luke Carter, 
Elijah Smith, 
John Frost, 
Isaac S. Russell, 
Samuel Hoclge, 
Benjamin F. Prescott, 
John Perry, 
Thomas A. Stearns, 
Addison Pierce, 
Samuel Marble, 
Oren Prescott, 
Joseph Joslin, 
T. H. Curtis, 
Robert Ritchie, 
Samuel Ryan, 
Charles H. Powers, 
Addison Prescott, 
Henry F. Morse, 
Herbert F. Moors, 
George A. Benjamin, 
Frank P. Wellman, 



o 
5 
5 
5 
5 

10 
1 
1 
1 
1 



00 1 John M. Wales, 
OO'Albert Bass, 
00 Miss A. Parker, 
00 Peter Upton, 
00 Mrs. S. H. Rand, 
00 Leonard F. Sawyer, 
00 Edward Gary, 
OOjJosiah M. M. Lacy, 
00 Miss Rebecca Bacon, 
00 Cummings Sawyer, 
00 E. H. xMower, 
00 Mrs. E. C. Duncan, 
00 Oliver Bacon, 
00 Charles L. Clark, 
00 Jonathan Page, 
00 Charles E. Cutter, 
OOAlvah Stanley, 
00 Alfred Sawye'r, 
00 Mrs. Amos Buss, 
OOElbridge Baldwin, 
00 Benjamin Pierce, 
00 



2 00 
2 00 
2 00 
5 00 
2 00 
2 00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
10 00 

1 00 

2 00 
2 00 
5 00 

1 00 

2 00 
5 00 
1 00 

1.") 00 



JvLius CuTTEK, Treasurer of the Centennial Committee, Dr. 

Xo amount of subscriptions, - - $502 00 

"■ paid by F. W. Tracy, for use of Common, 25 00 



$527 00 



Cr. 

By paid Geo. W. Foster, - - $25 00 

" for nails and loss on lumber, - 27 12 

. " " East Jaffrcy Cornet Band, - 50 00 

" " for Postal Cards and printing, - 22 99 

" " for use of tent and expenses on same, 115 6-t 

"' " Table Committee, - - 127 70 

" " for express, postage and stationery, 8 26 

" " for keeping Cavalry Horses, - 16 52 

'* " amount of subscriptions unpaid, - 1 00 

" amount in hands of the treasurer, - 132 77 



$527 00 



JAFFREY CENTENNIAL. 107 

The Committee voted that twenty-five per cent, of each per- 
son's subscription be returned, the balance of the surplus to the 
Treasurer, for extra services. 

The Committee of Arrangements tender thanks to Henry C. 
French, Joseph W. Fassett, and Alfred Sawyer, Selectmen of 
the town, and to the Table Committee, for theii- co-operation in 
making the celebration a success. Also, to the Peterborouo'h 
Cavalry Company and the East Jaftrey Fii-e Company, for the 
very satisfactory manner in which they performed the escort 
duty. 

The Table Committee unite with the Committee of Arrano-e- 
ments in offering thanks to the citizens of Jaffi-ey for providing 
funds to defi-ay the expense, and provisions for a free collation. 
— To H. B. Wheeler, Esq., who furnished us with rooms and 
lights for our meetings without charo-e. 



/ 



(X.. 



